Limited Palette
by SapphicVixen
Summary: Sometimes being a hero means letting the public think you're a villain. Now Kim must make the choice between doing what's right... and her life. All while joining Shego in trying to take down a new threat to both of them. - From the WINNER of the 2014 FANNIE AWARD for BEST ROMANCE. - Hiatus
1. White Trumpets

**Chapter 1 - White Trumpets**

* * *

Kim Possible, girl who could do anything, was sprawled face first into her bedroom mattress, arms and legs akimbo. Bandaged cuts peeked out from under her top, and her hair was clumped to her face.

Around her, her room was as clean and organized as her old one had been, save for the dresser, where several hand-written letters laid, all open and signed "Emeralda Forester". Each page was stained with green ink, written in a loopy cursive.

Several dates were scrawled across the tops. The oldest was just two weeks after her graduation ceremony from Middleton High, and contained a single, simple message.

 _Bored. Think if I rob a bank, I can knock you on your ass again?_

Kim had stared at the letter for several minutes - more due to the sheer ridiculousness of it, than anything - before crumpling the page and tossing it into her bin before she headed for her bathroom.

An hour later, before her hands even dry, she smoothed the letter against her desk and wrote out the return address on an envelope.

A flurry of activity over the summer drove the letter from her mind. She restored power in Brazil, prevented a cracked dam from flooding a village in China, and helped to remove a Lowardian weapon platform that disrupted the life cycle of a group of penguins.

So when the next letter arrived over two weeks later, she didn't think anything of the green outer writing until she ripped open the envelope.

 _P,_

 _Oh get off your high horse! Like you'd be able to stop me. I could steal thousands right from under your nose, but lucky for you, I'm being watched._

 _So much disbelief, Miss Priss. I'm good now, aren't I? Besides, government provided labs. Snailing it is about the only way to get a message out without Sammy snooping their nose in. Idiots. Why would you not watch outgoing mail?_

 _So stop being paranoid. I'm stuck as a "lab assistant" to Dr. D. He's lucky I don't fry him instead of his test tubes. I just read fashion mags. He yells. It's like old times, except without the occasional excitement. Well, he did turn one of his actual lab assistants into a duck last week. That was a good day. Still, maybe I'll try to find something else to do. Catch me if you can._

A crudely drawn face with its tongue sticking out was drawn at the end.

Kim had reread the letter twice, then tapped her Kimmunicator on.

"I don't get it, Kim," Wade said. "She doesn't seem to be doing anything that should send up any alarm bells. As far as I've been able to tell, she barely leaves the lab. Personally? I think she's messing with you."

Kim nodded. "Probably, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep an eye on her anyway. Check into any electronic trails she left. I'll work the whole twilight zone letter angle."

Between missions, Kim wrote letters. Slowly over the course of weeks, the letters came faster and faster until she was writing a letter every 5 days. However, with each letter, the messages became more and more cryptic. Gentle prods into what Shego was planning were deflected in favor of taunting, jabs at Kim's so-called "inexperience". There were vague references to new work, yet Wade still insisted that he hadn't detected Shego doing much of anything.

Sometimes Kim thought Shego really was just bored. Cooped up in the lab with no one to talk to but Drakken and other scientists, who wouldn't be? Kim wondered if Shego even had access to her ever-present beach chair. The thought of nothing but sterile lab furniture gave Kim a stab of sympathy.

Shego made a few excursions out of the lab, but these turned out to be shopping trips and other dead ends. Wade couldn't find any evidence that Shego had contacted anyone, either.

Kim considered just confronting Shego at Drakken's new lab, but somehow, writing actual paper and ink letters made the whole thing less real. To talk face-to-face to her arch-foe about writing letters would have felt all kinds of awkweird. And then there was the fact that Shego actually hadn't done anything and that Drakken's "lair" was a government run facility this time.

So she wrote, and the summer wore on. And she grew more tense with each letter she wrote.

Today, she had all but forgotten her communications with Shego when she tromped through the living room to her room and flopped, gracelessly, to her bed covers just a few minutes before.

So of course, the alarm chose now to blare its klaxon from her nightstand.

At first, Kim simply tried to ignore it; she had been so close to sleep. After a minute of an ever increasing whine, Kim groaned, slapped the top of her clock, and rolled back over.

Then her Kimmunicator went off.

This was quiet enough to ignore. The jingle repeated itself twice more, then finally, blissfully cut off. Kim drew in a breath, snuggled down into her covers, and sighed.

The Kimmunicator went off again.

Kim rolled over, snatched it off her nightstand, and groaned into her pillow, "what?"

"Uh, rough morning?" Wade's voice said.

Kim just nodded into the pillow, then raised her head. "Sorry Wade," she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I just got in."

"What?" Wade tapped a few keys. "You should have been back 6 hours ago!"

"I know. The flight got delayed. Twice."

Wade winced. "I'm sorry Kim, I should have -"

"No you shouldn't have," Kim said. "You needed sleep as much as we did. That's not why you called though."

"It can -"

Kim glared. "Wade."

He sighed. "Alright. You told me to call as soon as I learned anything about Shego, right?"

Something like electricity shot through her spine.

"What's the sitch?"

"You received another letter." Wade jabbed a thumb towards the upper left of the screen, where her dresser sat. "I used an optical scanner to read it before you opened it and -"

"Wade!" Kim said. "You can't just read my mail!"

Wade blinked. "But - I thought you wanted helped trying to track down what Shego wanted!"

"I do! I mean - that is -" She sighed. "No, you're right. I'm just not used to anyone going through my mail." She got up and paced over to the dresser. "How'd you know, anyway?"

"I just woke up a few minutes ago. Saw you were home and decided to scan all of Shego's letters to see if I could decrypt any patterns."

Kim flopped back onto her bed and ripped open the letter. "What's the code, detective?"

"That's... actually not why I called."

The letter came out easily and fell into her hand. "What do you mean?"

"Well..."

Kim opened the letter and read the single line written there.

 _See you at school. Don't be late._

Kim flipped the page over and double checked the front again. There was no other writing.

Then the realization hit her: Today was the first day of class.

"Wade, we're gonna be late!"

Kim grabbed a set of clothes and rushed off to the restroom. She came back for her book bag, packed and ready a week ago, her Kimmunicator, and headed towards the front door. She passed her mother scraping off eggs into a plate in the kitchen.

"Kimmie! Your breakfast!"

"Sorry mom, I'll get it later, love you, bye!"

And before her mother had a chance to answer back, Kim closed the door and reached her car in two long strides. The car started, and as soon as she had left the manufactured home's short driveway, she engaged the flight mode and sailed over the tight-knit temporary housing towards Ron's house... and her former home.

"Talk to me Wade," she said to her Kimmunicator. "If Shego's at the school, I want to know where."

"I've been scanning CCTV cams of the college and high school, but I've found no sign that Shego's at either one. Trying thermal positioning."

"Wouldn't she just show up like anyone else?"

Wade continued tapping keys. "Only if she doesn't light up. Even then, not everyone can move like Shego either... but it's a moot point. She's not showing up."

"Keep trying what you can. You wake up Ron?"

"He's not happy about it, but yeah."

A minute later, she landed just outside her old home (where a basic framework of a new house had been built), and drove the few feet forward to Ron's house, where he stood out front, backpack in hand.

He waved as she pulled up, then got in the car. "Sitch me."

Kim explained what Wade had said as they flew. Below, a patchwork of rubbled buildings, bulldozed land, and smooth new construction passed by. The city had, by far, seen the brunt of the Alien invasion, and while no large city was truly spared, Middleton was struggling to catch up.

As they approached the school, the buildings thinned out. In a grassy square, through the trees, they saw a lone Lowardian walker sinking into the grass.

Kim nosed the car down.

"You sure she's here, KP?"

"No," she said, "but it's the first usable hint she's given us this entire time."

"I dunno, KP. My money's still on her yanking your chain."

"I guess we'll find out."

She landed the car with a screech. They slowed to a reasonable speed and pulled into the parking lot. The wheels constantly bumped over rubber crack filler.

"Think we should split up?"

"Whoa, nuh-uh." He crossed his arms. "Last time I went through a new school alone, I wound up lost in the girl's locker room. So many screams. So. Many. My ears are still ringing, Kim."

Kim shook her head, took his hand in hers, and led him towards the school.

The buildings of the entire college were plain concrete, hastily rebuilt over the summer. Two men donning hardhats stood near a great pile of cement and steel, arguing with pointed jabs and stomped feet.

Kim gave them a wide berth.

Students all around them filed towards the main entrance of the college: A dry, cracked reflection pool filled with weeds and dirt. The pool sat in front of the newly constructed main hall. Like the buildings they passed, it was smooth and gray, without so much as a simple facade. In the windows, small potted plants made a feeble attempt at decoration.

Ahead, the streams of students seemed to converge, heading towards the college park where the alien walker sat. A temporary stage held what looked like several school officials, with one at the podium.

Kim recognized her as Dean Mendez. She spoke and gestured wildly, overemphasizing every one of her talking points, and her hair frayed in all directions from the force of her apparently long speech. Kim had spoken to her after rescuing several of the students in a burning dorm one year. She spoke well one-on-one, but didn't seem to know what to with her arms when in front of a group.

Kim and Ron filed into the back of the crowd, where people were standing due to the lack of seating.

"Yes," Mendez said, sweeping her arms up in a little bounce, "it's true that we've been dealt a heavy blow in Middleton, and Middleton Community College no less so..."

Kim leaned over to Ron. "Keep an eye out for Shego. I bet anything she's in the crowd."

"So deductive," a voice droned right in her ear.

Kim jumped away and widened her stance when she landed.

Shego just put her hands up. "Whoa there, action Barbie. Hey, not here to fight. This time."

Ron, finally noticing their new arrival, marched up to beside Kim, finger jabbed forward, and promptly tripped over his feet.

"Found her," he said.

Shego looked down at him through leering eyes.

Kim relaxed her stance. "What do you want, Shego? What are you doing here?"

Shego just batted her lashes. "Oh, but that'd be so boring!"

"Spit it out, Shego."

"Aw, Princess, don't be like that." She leaned forward and grinned. "I thought you'd be glad to see your penpal, after all."

Kim colored slightly. Yep, all kinds of awkweird.

"If you're just going to waste our time, then we're going to class," Kim said. She was tired. Her eyes were barely keeping open, and only a rush of adrenaline kept her awake now. Witty repartee wasn't in her current vocabulary.

"So defensive," Shego said. "And here I thought we were becoming friends."

Kim snorted. "Yeah right. You're totally plotting something and I'm going to get to the bottom of it."

"That's one way of putting it," Shego said.

Kim started. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Shego swept an arm towards the stage. "Why don't you look and find out, Princess?"

Kim blinked, glared at her, then followed her arm up to the stage, where Mendez was still bouncing her way through her speech.

"And now," Mendez said, "I'm sure you're all quite tired of me dancing around up here." She winked. "So it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you the woman who made this all possible. She had donated over 12 million to the repair fund of Middleton Community college, and over 50 million to the tri-city area. She's been concentrating on Middleton in light of the focus of the alien attack, but has been helping communities all over the world, providing much needed funding for food and emergency housing. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome one of the most wonderful and generous women I have ever met, Miss Norana Umbra."

Applause surged through the crowd. Perhaps fans of the new speaker or just happy Mendez had finally stepped off the podium.

Kim glanced at Shego, whose grin didn't falter. Kim turned back towards the stage.

In contrast to the haphazard and vibrant dean, Norana was like a dark pond that had never known a breeze. Each step she took towards the podium was measured, purposeful. Her dark skin flashed under the hemline of a simple black dress, and her short black hair spoke of a no-nonsense style, save for a single lock of hair that fell across her forehead. Kim would have pinned her as Indian, but when she spoke, it was with a heavy English accent.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she said, her speech as slow and measured as her steps had been, "I thank Dean Mendez deeply for those words, but I am simply doing what I believe I must."

Applause started, but with a simple raised hand, it was hushed in an instant.

"I wish to continue doing the best I can for Middleton, for its residents, for its parents, and for its children. For future generations. I want Middleton to become a shining beacon for America, and for the world. A symbol of everything the world can be."

Kim felt the hairs on the back of her neck stick straight up. Strange.

"I'd like to announce," Norana said, "here today, the next step I have taken to make this dream a reality. To make Middleton greater than it has ever been. I'd like to announce my purchase of majority shares in Middleton Community College, to better direct the future here."

Again, applause started, but again, it was hushed with a gesture. Kim just felt tense.

"I would like to make it clear that I have every intention of working with the board, and am fully committed to my values to make this college the best it can be. I have not stopped there, however. In addition to the school, I'd like to announce the purchase of majority shares in both Middleton Space Center, with special interest in the Propulsion Lab, as well as a place that has authored several new procedures and experimental equipment, Middleton Medical Center." Applause started, but Norana simply kept speaking, only slightly louder. "It is my hope that by directing the major technology centers of Middleton, we might guide the city, the state, and the country into a new era."

This time, the applause grew to a roar, and Norana let it play out for a moment before raising her hand off the podium once more. Kim could feel pounding in her temples and tried not to blink.

"Besides these major technology hubs, I have also purchased several smaller tech firms around the tri-city area. Of course, I want to provide for my companies as well, and so, have bought the franchise rights to every Bueno Nacho in the metro area."

Confused murmurs replaced applause this time.

Kim glanced at Ron, who stood slackjawed and brows creased.

"Of course," Norana said, this time with a quirk of her lips, "the menu will remain the same, but a few new features have already been added. All employees of any one of my businesses - as well as, most importantly, Middleton Community College students - can enjoy heavy discounts."

This time, applause broke out again. It was the loudest yet.

"I think that's all I came to say today," Norana said, turning towards the faculty behind her. "I look forward to reshaping Middleton into the absolute best city it can be."

Just before she left the podium, her gaze, once simply scanning the crowd, unerringly moved to stare straight at Kim. They locked eyes, and for a brief moment, Kim thought she could read something in them, in the furrowing of that dark brow. But then Norana turned completely around and left the microphone behind, to be replaced again by the dean.

"Another big hand for Miss Norana Umbra!"

Applause rose through the crowd, but Kim wasn't paying attention anymore. She watched as Norana walked slowly back to her seat and sat back down in her chair in the faculty area on the stage. She made no motion to acknowledge Kim again, and simply stared forward with her chin raised and a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Kim stood, staring at the woman, her headache worse and thrumming in her temples.

"Ron," she said, finding her tongue. "Ron!" She grabbed his arm and spun him around.

"Is... is this good or bad?" Ron said.

Kim stared at him.

"I mean," Ron said, "the last time Bueno Nacho got taken over, it didn't work so well. On the other hand, student discounts! Oh yeah! And this probably means the - uh, KP, are you okay?"

Kim, however, was very not okay. Her breathing was shallow, and her teeth ground into each other, making her jaw hurt.

"Ron," she said, "she's bought out the Space Center, the hospital, the school, and Bueno Nacho?"

Ron blinked. "Oooooooh." He nodded. "And?"

"Ron! What connects all those things together?!"

"... a passion for experimentation?"

Something in Kim's temple pounded to get out. "... no, Ron. ... I think _we_ are the ones being targeted here."

A slow look of realization overtook his features and Kim let go of his shoulders.

"We have to find out," Kim said, "and I know just the person to ask."

She spun, then did a double take of the area: Shego was gone. Kim swiveled and craned her head around the people who had gathered around them.

She spotted Shego's green leg just before it turned a corner.

"Come on," she said to Ron, then plunged ahead, away from the crowd.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _So! That was a thing!_

 _This fic updates weekly until finished. This will be a long fic, for the first novel, and I might end up writing a sequel after this one is finished, but we'll see when we get there. I have everything plotted out and I do believe it'll call for one, but the story might change as I go along._

 _ **Feel free to review and let me know your thoughts!**_ _I'm very open to criticisms, praise, general comments, or anything in-between. :)_

 _Disclaimer: This is a lawful transformative work/parody pursuant to Suntrust v. Houghton Mifflin Co. The author makes no money from this work and never will attempt to do so (and she doesn't have any anyway.)_ _© 2016 SapphicVixen. Limited Palette may not be reproduced or republished, in whole or in part, without the author's permission. Not authorized by The Walt Disney Company, and no sponsorship or endorsement by The Walt Disney Company is implied._

 _This, my friends, is a work of love._


	2. Pens and Swords

**Chapter 2 - Pens and Swords**

* * *

When they turned the corner of an unfinished building, they found that Shego wasn't there.

Disappointed, but determined, Kim ran back to the stage, only to find that Norana Umbra had already left, leaving the stage to Dean Mendez. A quick search of the area didn't reveal either Umbra or Shego, and no one they asked seemed to know where they went.

"Shego's got to be working with Umbra," Kim said over lunch. They had found the college's Bueno Nacho and bought their usual salad and Naco Combo orders. After a talk with Wade about the stock deals, Kim had been struggling to stay away in her classes, and each word spoken pounded in her head.

"I dunno, KP," Ron said around a mouthful of Naco. "She was probably just yanking your chain. Messing with your head."

Rufus, oblivious, chattered as he dove into the wrapper of a burrito.

Kim speared a carrot rather forcefully. "No way. Shego is totally working together with her. Why else would she direct me to the stage and then just disappear once Umbra was done?"

"Maybe she's a fan," Ron said.

Kim stopped stabbing her salad and stared.

"Okay," Ron said. "Maybe not. But I dunno about this working together thing. It doesn't make any sense. If Umbra was a supervillain, wouldn't she be trying for world domination or conquering the world with mutant golf courses or whatever?"

It went on like this, each circling their own arguments, over their entire lunch. Soon, it was time for their next class, and they kissed goodbye. Ron had decided that a public speaking class wasn't for him after the Incident of '99, and Kim decided that her creative differences with blenders would have to stand as-is.

She fumbled over her impromptu introductory speech, and was only too glad when class finally let out. Walking kept her awake. She was one of the last ones out and walked through the entrance, intending to go meet up with Ron.

Instead she found Umbra waiting for her at the foot of the short flight of concrete steps.

"Good evening, Miss Possible," Umbra said in her smooth, polished tone, still wearing the simple black dress on her dark skin. "I thought it only prudent that I introduce myself to the infamous Kim Possible before I leave."

Kim bristled. "I don't think I've been called infamous before."

Umbra made a little bow and smiled up at her. "My mistake," Umbra said. "How may I be of service to you today, Miss Possible?"

"Shego." Kim said it without thinking, then plunged on. "I have the feeling she's working for you."

"And why do you say that?"

Kim peered down from where she stood at the top of the steps and crossed her arms. "Because she seemed very interested in making sure I heard your speech."

Umbra waved a hand in front of her. "You misunderstand, dear; I _mean_ , why would you ask? I wasn't aware it was a crime to hire someone to my employ." Before Kim could respond, Umbra went on. "However, if you must know, Shego is indeed under contract. What of it?"

"'What of it?'" Kim said. "She's a wanted criminal in over 48 countries!"

" _Formerly_ wanted," Umbra said. She paused, considering Kim. The hairs on the back of Kim's neck raised, but she forced herself to stare right back, despite how much she kept trying to blink.

"I wonder," Umbra said finally. "You seem tired, Miss Possible. Are you sure you're not letting your agitation get to you? I simply find it perplexing that a woman so devoted to doing good is unable to forgive when a former criminal has done a great service to our world."

Kim sputtered. "I'm not saying - She's just -" She growled, frustrated. "Shego isn't a woman you can trust."

"And you are?"

Kim stared. Something in her brain said that of course she was. She was Kim Possible. Another part said this was egotistic.

Instead, she echoed, lamely, "and _you_ are?"

Umbra smiled. "I am an accomplished businesswoman who has invested more than 99% of her fortune in the rebuilding of the world. I have helped countless millions indirectly, and thousands with my own two hands. I would say I am to be trusted, Miss Possible, yes."

Kim smirked. "And I'm a teen hero. I've helped thousands over my lifetime, and millions by saving the world. _Multiple_ times. I'd say I am a woman who could be trusted, yeah."

"And it only took you several rounds of prodding to admit it." Umbra's smile disappeared. "You should own what you are. It makes life much more simple. Myself? I am a business woman."

Kim perked a brow. "I'm sure that's all you are."

"Are you now?" Umbra said. "That was far easier than I could have thought. Well Miss Possible, this has been an enlightening chat. I'm sure we'll be seeing much of each other in the coming days. Oh, a word, however."

Nonplussed, Kim tensed and listened. Umbra walked up the few steps to within arm's reach of Kim and leaned forward. Even two steps down and leaning, Umbra came up to eye level.

Between Umbra's fingers was a little metal capsule that she squeezed. Kim heard a click, and then a quiet, high-pitched whine that sounded like thousands of tiny, high pitched bees.

"I will remove any obstacles in my path, Miss Possible, if it means fulling my vision of a better future. I would recommend some time off. I'm sure I can handle things without you."

Then Norana stood straight, glared down at Kim, turned heel, and walked away. The faint buzz went with her.

Kim stared after her and watched her go out of sight. She might have stayed like that for a while longer if Wade hadn't beeped her on the Kimmunicator.

"Kim!" He said. "I lost all contact with you for the last minute! What happened?"

"What?" Kim said. "Wade, I've just been right here. I was just talking with Norana."

"I know," Wade said. "I was listening in. Your signal _completely_ cut out in the middle of the talk. I'm trying to figure it out. Tell me what happened."

Kim told him what Norana had said, and about the strange buzzing.

"A frequency nullifier!" Wade said. "I've only heard about those. They're new, very high tech, and completely nullify any and all frequencies used to communicate. I've been trying to develop my own, but it's been slow work. Of course, if I could just -"

"Wade," Kim said. "Never mind that right now. I'm more concerned with what Umbra is up to, and I'm going to find out. I think I have a plan."

She told Wade to find out if Umbra had any suspicious properties in the Middleton area. He found one, of course. A large warehouse that had never had any shipping activity on record, yet was guarded more than any other. Bingo.

Now all she had to do was find Ron and they'd go out for a little recon. He was supposed to meet her at her car after classes, but he wasn't there. She traced the path between her car and the culinary building and didn't stop until she passed between its doors and reached the classroom.

"This crepe is amazing, Stoppable," a man said as soon as she stepped inside.

"Aw, thanks Mr. Barkin," Ron said.

Kim did a double-take. "Mr. _Barkin_?"

Ron and Mr. Barkin stood over an island counter in front of a row of stoves. The entire place was covered in white with odd gray or green splashes along the walls.

"What's all this?" Kim said, walking in and gesturing to a row of boxes along the back counters.

Ron wiped his hands off on his apron. "Mr. Barkin asked me to help him with a charity. The high school plans on starting the school year with a bake sale. Says my snickerdoodles would sell like hotcakes, except, you know, doodley-er."

She turned to Barkin. "And you're here because..."

"Filling in for Mrs. Marzipan. Freak pie plate accident."

"Riiiight," Kim said. "And the crepe?" She looked down between them where a single crepe sat, sliced in half with several forkfuls taken out of one side.

"Little side project," Ron said, buffing his nails on his chest. "Mr. Barkin thought we could use some fuel and suggested this."

"Wasn't this what you made for your final project?" Kim said.

Barkin slipped a fork behind his back. "Possible, don't you have someplace to be?"

"As a matter of fact..." Kim walked around the island. "Ron. You up for a little recon?"

"Oh, a mission? I'll be right- uh..."

Mr. Barkin had begun to look at him very intensely.

"I'll... be... uh, right with you in spirit?"

Mr. Barkin crossed his arms.

"Sorry KP," he murmured. "I think I got to finish these snickerdoodles. Can you handle it without me?"

Kim tried to hide her disappointment. "Sure! Catch up with me if you can, okay?"

"Sure thing," Ron said. He turned to go back to his baking, but stopped. "... hey, you feeling alright? You got some serious bags under your eyes."

She waved him off. "I'm fine, Ron. Just that last mission, you know?"

Of course, Ron had slept far more than her on the flight back, per usual, so maybe he didn't. In any case, he simply nodded, then went back to his oven and Mr. Barkin, who had begun to tap his foot.

Kim left, taking the stairs two at a time, She almost missed a little bronze plaque she hadn't noticed on her way in. It sat bolted to the wall, reading "UMBRA BUILDING."

Once she reached her car, Wade directed her to the warehouse. Dusk settled in as she pulled up. Shipping containers littered the area nearby, stacked in huge rows that grew as high as the nearby buildings. Overhead, planes roared as they landed near Middleton International. The warehouse in question didn't look that much different from the others, except for the occasional worker who seemed unusually well muscled and alert.

"Found it," Kim said to the Kimmunicator. She pulled the car to the side a good distance away and killed the engine.

"I can't get a read inside," Wade said. "Place is locked down tight with almost no signal coming out of it."

"Almost?" Kim said as she left her car.

On the screen, Wade scratched his head. "There's a faint heat signature, but that could be anything, really."

Kim smirked. "Signal dampening and residual heat? I smell a secret lair."

"Have fun. I'll keep you posted. Oh, and tell Ron he owes me 20 bucks."

"Good to know someone believes me."

Wade smiled and the screen blanked out.

The area seemed almost deserted, with no trucks or other workers besides those near her target. Once close, Kim slipped between the walls of two neighboring warehouses and climbed a fire escape.

She pulled herself onto the roof and paced to the other side. Below, a guard passed by, but didn't look up. Directly across from her was another fire escape. And a door.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped back a few paces, ran, and leaped across the gap. Her foot stopped on the metal railing, slowing her fall before she tumbled forward onto the metal grating. The old steel creaked underneath her weight, and in a panic, Kim threw open the door and dove inside before the guard below had time to look up. Just as she did, Wade's face blinked on, waving his arms at her, then blinked out and she was plunged into darkness.

"Wade?" she said. She tapped her Kimmunicator, but the screen brought up static before blinking off again. "Weird." She turned, and tried the door, but it was locked. "Super weird. Trap weird." She hit a button and turned on the spotlight on her Kimmunicator.

A bright beam shot out, revealing the catwalk she stood on, but little else; the area below her had been filled in with plywood. "Oooookay. Maybe not a trap." She tried the door again, but it was stuck. She considered kicking it open, but as long as she was here, she might as well investigate the area.

She cast her light around, into the corners, but the attic area was bare. On one of the walls, there sat a ladder leading down.

She walked over, careful not to make any noise on the grating, and cut her light as she neared the hole. Below, it was just as dark as the rest of the warehouse.

She sighed, then made her way down, light still off. Just in case.

Each creak of the ladder made her tense, and she was especially glad when she had reached the bottom. She listened for any noise, but nothing came. Finally, she decided she had no other choice and clicked on her light.

Her voice caught in her throat.

Piles and piles of high tech rifles, rocket launchers, side arms, and what looked like futuristic grenades were scattered over the entire floor of the place. Crates stood in the back, stacked to the ceiling, holding even more weaponry, Kim presumed. It was enough for a small war. She picked up one of the pistols and smirked.

"You're busted, Umbra."

"Well no," said a voice, "but you're about to be!"

Kim dropped the pistol and jumped away just as Shego's glowing hands came slamming down behind her.

Kim came out of a cartwheel and slid along the ground. She brought up her light, but no matter where she cast it, there was no one there.

"Guess the pretense is off now, eh Shego?" she said to the darkness.

"What's that?" Shego said. The acoustics of the warehouse made it come from all around. "I believe you're trespassing, Kimmie." Her voice took a more mocking tone. "I guess your pretense of being a goodie good is off now, eh cupcake?"

Kim scoffed. "Because massing this much firepower is obviously legal."

She stopped talking just long to see three bolts of plasma shoot out from the darkness behind her. She cartwheeled forward, and they sailed overhead, but she didn't see Shego.

"And assaulting an employee," the warehouse said in Shego's voice. She scoffed. "How far we have fallen, Kimmie."

"Assault?!" Kim said. "I'm defending myself!"

"I'm just protecting company property."

" _Illegal_ company property," Kim said.

Laughter echoed throughout the chamber. "Who's to say." Then a blast shot out from the darkness and caught Kim in the shoulder.

She spun twice around on the spot and fell to the ground. Her shoulder felt like it was on fire. Kim cried out, grabbed her arm, and immediately jerked away from the pain it caused.

She knew it had been dislocated. She needed that arm back _now_. Steeling herself, she grabbed her arm again and twisted it.

The joint created searing pain as it moved and popped back into place. She cried out. Her eyes had squinted shut. With a great amount of mental effort, she forced them open.

Shego was right over her with a glowing hand almost covering her face.

Kim kicked out and Shego backpedaled simultaneously. Kim's foot narrowly missed Shego's chin. Kim caught herself on her bad arm and fell to the ground again as pain shot up her shoulder. This time, Kim didn't let herself get caught off guard. She pushed up with her good arm and cradling the other to her stomach. The green glow disappeared and the warehouse plunged once again into darkness.

Kim scrambled behind a crate and cursed herself. She was too sleep deprived and slow to dodge everything Shego could throw. She'd have to change tactics.

"What's wrong Shego?" she said, panting. "Getting soft? What's wrong with kicking a girl while she's down?"

A plasma blast to the other side of crate was her only answer, but Shego didn't charge out of the darkness to her. Kim had never gotten hit by any of Shego's heated plasma before. Maybe it was throwing Shego off, didn't know what Kim would do.

Kim could use that.

"I suppose I can see why you need the extra help with the lights," Kim said. "You've always been a bit under par. Get your butt kicked by a cheerleader one too many times, Shego?"

Silence answered her.

"It's been awhile since you've been in a fight, too." She peered around the corner, but couldn't make anything out in the dark. "Sure you still have the skill to take me on?"

A feral scream followed, and Shego burst out of the darkness above, her fists cloaked in plasma. Kim jumped out of the way. Shego sprang after her. Kim bobbed and weaved, found an opening, and kicked out. Shego flew backwards, and her plasma turned back off.

Kim ran, jumped, and kicked. It landed, but Shego had caught it, pushing her back only a foot.

"This yours?" Shego spun her around by her ankle, then let Kim go. Kim went flying through the air and smashed into a wall. She collapsed and groaned as her face touched the cool concrete. Her shoulder screeched in pain.

Footsteps neared. She flipped herself forward, feet over her head. They landed on Shego's shoulders. Kim hauled herself up, then kicked off Shego's back. Plasma bolts followed her through her arc. Kim scrambled, and Shego only stopped once Kim was safely behind cover.

"What's Umbra planning, Shego?" She said around another crate.

A green blast came from right in front of her. Kim barely dodged by doing the splits. She spun to trip Shego, but Shego only bounded away, into the dark.

Shego's attack had a side effect, however; pieces of the steel crates around her had broken off. They glowed, hot.

Kim planted her feet as best she could.

"Oh, come on, Kimmie." Shego lit up her hands from a few crates away. "At least give me a moving target."

Kim grinned. "I just want to give you a chance to actually hit me, is all."

Shego fired another bolt. Kim dropped and grabbed one of the pieces of glowing crate just long enough to fling it. It collided with Shego's bolt in a massive display of dust and smoke. Kim charged straight through and jumped into another kick.

It landed dead center in Shego's chest.

This time, Shego flew back and slammed into a wall, landing in a heap.

Kim smirked. "I thought you wanted a moving target, Shego."

"Oh," Shego said, shakily getting to her feet, her hands still glowing, "you're going to be moving."

She charged, and Kim met her. They slipped into each other's strikes, a familiar pattern that neither could stop until Kim landed a fist to Shego's solar plexus. Instead of pressing her advantage, she cartwheeled away, despite her shoulder. It twitched when she stopped to hide again.

"Come on," Kim said, "You must have some idea what Umbra is planning. Or did she keep you in the dark? So unlike your employers."

Around her, the warehouse laughed.

"Oh Kimmie, you have no idea. Drakken was getting so boring. This? This is going to be _fun_."

But before Kim could make a response, bright light blared in front of her and the roar of a rolling steel door filled her ears.

Through the bright lights and her blurry eyes, she made out some of Umbra's goons marching towards her. She lashed out, catching one in the chin and another in the gut.

" _That's enough_!"

Kim knew that voice already. It was Umbra herself.

Kim blinked the light out of her eyes and slowly, the scene in front of her came into focus, complete with red and blue flashing lights.

No less than three blinding squad car spotlights were trained on the opening of the building and her by extension. Beyond the two goons she had laid flat stood Umbra herself, and beyond her, several police with guns raised.

At her.

She raised one arm, still cradling the other. "It's alright, it's me."

The police officers glanced at each other, uncertain.

"It is most certainly _not_ alright," Umbra said. "What have you done with my warehouse?"

Kim glanced behind her. The warehouse was even more a jumble than it had been, and vast gouges were taken out of the walls, crates, and floor from Shego's plasma.

A vein along Umbra's neck looked ready to pop. "This will cost a fortune to replace!"

Kim smirked. "Good luck making that in prison," she said.

Umbra whirled on her. "The only one going to prison today is going to be you! Officer!"

Kim looked at Umbra like she had sprouted feathers. "What?"

A nervous looking officer walked up, his pistol now holstered. "Yes ma'am?"

Umbra pointed at Kim. "I want this woman arrested for vandalism, wanton destruction of property, and assault of my men."

"I- what? No, Shego did this!" Kim said. "She was just here!" She looked back towards the warehouse.

"I was just where, now?"

Kim whirled. From behind the police line, Shego walked towards them.

"No..." Kim turned to the officer. "No, no! I was just fighting her!"

Now the officer looked more nervous than ever. "Miss Possible, Miss Go has been with Miss Umbra this entire time."

Air didn't seem to make it into Kim's lungs. She felt dizzy.

"Officer," Umbra said with false calm, "I want this woman arrested. She has committed an obvious crime in which we caught her in the act. Please."

The officer gulped and glanced between them.

He stopped on Norana. "You intend to press charges, then."

"I most certainly do."

An icy chill went up Kim's spine.

The officer grimaced and reached behind him. "Miss Possible. I need you to... I can't believe I'm saying this. I need you to put your arms behind your back, please."

In his hands, he held a pair of cuffs.

Kim searched for something to say, but nothing came out. Receiving only silence in reply, the officer walked behind her and pulled her arms together, clicking the cuffs into place. Taking her by the arm, he walked her towards the cars.

"Poppin'," Shego said as they passed.

A sudden rage filled Kim and she pulled free of the officer's grip.

" _Camille_!"

Kim practically spat the word and stomped towards her, who backed up a pace.

"Who?" 'Shego' said.

Kim bared her teeth in rage, but a sudden, forceful jerk pulled her back. "Miss Possible! Cooperate or I will be forced to take you down."

And suddenly Kim was cold again, the embers of rage smothered by fear. She looked over her shoulder at the pair, Umbra and 'Shego', and felt empty. Then she was pushed into the squad car, and they pulled out of the area and towards the police station.

Cuffs, Kim found, were decidedly uncomfortable. They prevented any reasonable sitting position in the back seat of the cruiser. The two officers in the front put on their best poker faces, though neither seemed very good at it. Kim thought vaguely of what she might say to ease their worries, but nothing came.

They pulled into the station a while later. The car stopped, and Kim's heart pounded in her chest. The car door opened. She stepped out and was led through the glass double doors of the station to a desk where an officer sat typing with his head down.

"Got another one, eh?"

"Uh, yeah," said the officer holding Kim's arm.

That officer at the desk tapped a few keys. "State your full name for the record, please."

When no one spoke, Kim realized this was directed at her.

"Oh. Um, Kimberly Ann Possible."

"Haha, yeah right."

He looked up.

"... is this a joke?"

Kim went bright red and bowed her head. After a pause, the officer typed a few keys and jabbed his thumb towards the back. When he spoke, his voice had a distant quality. "Just... take her on back, huh?"

The officers escorting her did. They took her to a camera, posed her to face it, and took a picture. Then again from the side. The officer grabbed her again and guided her away.

Overhead, fluorescent lights cast stark shadows on the brown and tattered furniture. The walls, like most of the rebuilt buildings, were a stark gray.

"Your watch, Miss Possible?"

Kim blinked. "Oh, my Kimmunicator..." She slipped it off her wrist and the officer took it from her fingers.

"Do you have any other items or weapons on you?" His voice had an odd, robotic quality.

"In my backpack, there's a few things," Kim said.

"We already confiscated your bag."

"Oh." Kim hadn't noticed.

"Anything else on you?"

Kim shook her head.

The officer gestured over to a half-wall that seemed to be serving as a desk. On it was a pad of paper with 10 boxes and a pad of ink. Her prints were taken, and then she was lead into another, smaller room that seemed even more bare than the rest of the station.

The officer stood in a corner and directed Kim to wait on the far side. A minute later, a female officer with a short blonde ponytail came in with her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Alright," she said. "I need you to remove any hair clips, ties, earrings, jewelry, and take off your clothes."

"W-what?"

The two officers looked at each other. The woman jerked her head and the man left.

"Miss Possible," she said, "this is just... standard procedure in Middleton now; we've had so many supervillain weapons come through."

Kim's lip quivered, but she nodded and grabbed her hemline.

"... stop." The officer held up a hand. "Stop, just..." She stepped over and pushed Kim's hand back down. "Just stop."

"But you said -"

The officer sighed. "I know. Look, I don't know why you're in here, and I'm going to make sure I give the officer who arrested you shit for the rest of his life. I got to do my job, but we'll do an old fashioned pat down."

Something approaching happiness welled in Kim's stomach. But... "Won't you get in trouble?"

"I could lose my badge," the officer said, "so if anyone asks, just tell 'em I did a strip search, alright? Now... do you have anything on you?"

A pat-down later, the officer walked Kim back out of the bare room and lead to a cell. The door shut and locked behind her, and Kim stood in the middle of it, staring at the bench.

Eventually, she stepped over, sat, and set the back of her head against the cement wall. Several minutes passed until she laid down and fell asleep.


	3. Two Talking

_**A/N**_ _: Had to get this out to you and it's just sitting here, so here you go! Onto write Chapter 6. :3_

 _I LOVE hearing your feedback and reviews. Some of you guys have been reading my stuff since I started, and you've been_ great _. It's great encouragement to keep you guys fed with fic. ;)_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter 3 - Two Talking**

* * *

The next thing Kim knew, she was being woken up by the rapping of metal on metal, and her parents stood in front of the bars holding her things.

"Mom. Dad."

Her mother's hands writhed around Kim's Kimmunicator. "Kimmie. We paid your bail. You're coming home."

"Already?" Kim said. "I thought I needed to see a judge."

"You can thank your friend Wade, Kimmie-cub," her dad said. "Apparently you're owed a few favors?"

Kim laughed; it felt strange in her throat.

An officer came over and keyed the bars open, and Kim walked out, past him. He refastened the door, nodded to Kim, and left.

Her mother wrapped her in a hug, then held her at arm's length. Kim tried to hide her twitch when she touched her bad arm.

"Your shoulder is swollen," her mother said.

"It's alright," Kim said, effecting a smile. "Dislocated it."

Her mother gently probed it, but Kim didn't flinch away. "Are you alright, Kimmie?"

"It's _fine_ , mom," Kim said. "Popped right back in."

"I meant you, Kimmie."

"Oh," Kim said. "Yeah, I just intend to set a few mix-ups straight once we're out of here."

Her parents looked at each other.

"... what?" Kim said.

"Kimmie...," her mother said, "there's a few conditions on your bail..."

"You can't leave the house," her father said, "except to go to school or court."

"What?! That's so unfair! I didn't do anything!"

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "We know, Kimmie-cub, but you have to take the deal you were given. You could wait to see a judge and try to get what you want, but that'd mean waiting here and after Judge Spicer went to the trouble to write up bail terms for you, I think it'd be poor repayment."

"Your father's right, Kimmie. You just need to keep your head down for now. Just stay off the radar for awhile, you know?"

Kim sighed. "Fine. Just let me sign it and let's get out of here as _soon_ as we can."

They walked their way to the front of the compound where a hefty sheaf of paper sat with a pen on top of it. Kim barely made sure that her name was already printed on it before she signed and initialed it. She waited until the officer at the desk nodded his consent, and then she left... jail.

The ride home wasn't long. Her father had decided to drive the Sloth back, for which Kim was thankful. Her mother was quiet on the way; Kim tried not to read too much into it. When they had finally crossed through the doors, Kim stretched and yawned.

"I think I'm going to take a nap," she said.

Her mother looked at her, frowning. Finally, she said, "Alright. Did you want something to eat before -"

"I'm alright mom. Just tired."

As soon as she closed the door on her room, she dug into her bag, dragged out her kimmunicator, and beeped Wade.

"It's locked down pretty tight, Kim, but I _think_ I might have an angle."

Kim shook her head. "I'm sorry, what?"

Wade grinned. "You were going to ask me to figure out an angle in your bail contract, right? I already downloaded it and have been looking it over on your car ride home."

"... Wade, you rock. What have you got for me?"

"The language says you're allowed to go to 'official school functions,' right? Well, it just so happens that Umbra is hosting a series of talks at the school over the next few weeks, almost all of them after your usual classes. Should give you plenty of time to figure out whatever Umbra is up to with Shego and Camille."

"Poppin'," Kim said.

The following days passed by exceedingly slowly. Kim agreed to let her parents try to find her a lawyer to represent her, not even wanting to deal with the drama that it'd be.

Meanwhile, every call for help from Team Possible had to be answered by Ron alone. Now endowed with whatever mystical monkey powers he had attained (though Kim had never again seen the blue glow he used during the invasion,) he could handle the rare fight far more easily than he used to, but those same powers didn't help him broker peace between two factions, track down missing artifacts for museums, or recapture endangered animals that escaped from their habitats. Kim helped where she could, but she could only do so much from her Kimmunicator.

At school, Kim attended every speech, gathering, and party hosted by Umbra that she could. Each, however, turned out to be even more boring than the last, revealing nothing but the supposed good wishes of their host.

Not once did Kim manage to corner Umbra alone for another exchange. Most of the time, Umbra simply made herself unavailable, or had her guards escort her away.

Once, several weeks into her long wait for a trial, Kim thought she caught a glimpse of green, but it went as suddenly as it came.

Kim sat under a tree on campus during lunch. Ron had already left after a report on a local bank robbery. Her heart longed for the thrill of an evil plot. A theft. A cat in a tree. Anything. The campus police refused all her offers of help, however, and most seemed to be trying to avoid looking at her at all.

She leaned back and let the grass brush into her hair. The sun was warm, the grass was cool, and it all felt wonderful on her skin.

And soon she could be forbidden this little green indulgence if she lost her case.

She sat up with a bad taste in her mouth, put her head in her hands, and focused on her breathing.

A minute of this later, she felt something fall on her leg. She looked down and found a tiny, folded slip of paper. She peered, unfolded it, and there, written in green ink, was the word "follow".

Kim jerked upright, and almost missed it: a blonde woman swaying down the sidewalk in a black outfit... with green highlights. The woman didn't look back as she climbed the stairs to the culinary "Umbra Building."

Kim glanced around the yard, gathered her things, and set off, trying to appear casual and take her time, even though no one seemed to be looking at her. She climbed the steps and, finally in the building, looked around the halls for where Shego might have gone. A door to a dark room nearby stood ajar. Kim made her way over and slipped inside.

From behind the door, Shego pushed it shut and flipped the lock. The lights sprang on.

"Took you long enough, princess."

Kim didn't back away. "I got the impression _someone_ didn't want to be seen. Or is the wig just a new look for you?"

"Oye." She pulled the wig off, letting her dark hair flow out, then incinerated the wig in a plasma burst.

Kim tensed at the flash of green, then crossed her arms. "What do you want Shego? My arm's healed now, if you're afraid I'm going to hold back."

Shego held up her hands in a T. "Simmer down there, mighty mouse. Let's take it down a notch. White flag."

She gestured around at the empty classroom they were in. A few tables and chairs stood stacked in the corners, but not nearly enough for a full classroom. The white board on the far wall was pristine. Never touched.

"And like I'd wait for you to heal if I wanted a fight," Shego said.

Kim laughed, strange as it felt. "True. What was I thinking?"

Suddenly, the mood changed. Shego glared. "Look, what do you think you're playing at?"

Kim stared. "What do you mean, 'what I'm playing at?'"

"I mean, what are you still doing in Middleton?"

"... waiting for a trial?"

It was Shego's turn to stare. Then she burst out laughing. "Of course! Miss Priss can't miss her own court date! That'd be far too much for her!" She leaned against the wall and held her stomach.

"I don't see what's so funny," Kim said.

"Don't you?" Shego said, sobering. "The problem that should be _obvious_ is that Norana Umbra owns this little city, or did Nerdlinger not get the memo?"

Kim's brow knit. "What are you-"

"Judge Spicer, your little law pal, retired today."

Kim gaped. "Retired? But he was only 58! He called me to solve problems all over Middleton. He was passionate about helping this city."

Shego perked a brow. "Guess he got a better offer."

And then Kim realized what Shego was getting at. "Judge Spicer would never take a bribe!"

"Oh, it wasn't a bribe," Shego said. She walked over to a table, sat, and crossed her legs. Kim noticed her wince when she stepped on her left. "There was a big meeting downtown - sorry you couldn't make it, by the way -"

Kim glowered.

"- where her royal grouchiness presented him with a generous retirement package as a service to the city, and even bought him and his family a home a few states over."

"But he wouldn't!" Kim said. "He would never abandon Middleton just like that, no matter how much money Umbra might be paying."

"Sure," Shego said. "Never mind, of course, that Norana is seen as a 'community hero.'" She air quoted this. "Or that Queen Uptight would personally see to it that the next judge had Middleton's best interests at heart." Shego almost seemed sickened to say the words.

Kim stood with her back against the wall, then slid down to the floor. She stared at the unused white board.

"I don't care," she said finally. "Whatever judge they get, it'll be a fair trial. The jury will see to that."

Shego just stared icily down at her.

"I'll figure out how to get out of this," Kim said, "and without sinking to your level, Shego. Anything is possible for a Possible.

Shego's gaze just turned colder. "I guess that means that it's possible for you to be a complete moron too." Without warning, Shego stood up, and walked to the door. "It won't be the same without you, Kimmie; it's been nice to have someone who could at least _almost_ keep up with me."

Shego opened the door and walked through, leaving Kim in the empty classroom. She sat and tried to process things, but no matter how she tackled the situation, she only came to the same conclusion: she would put her trust in the system. Innocent until proven.

So why did that thought make her gut twist so much?

After giving Shego enough time to leave without being noticed, she left the classroom, exiting into the building's hall. Students filled the kitchen where Ron would have had his class, and Kim's thoughts strayed to what he might be doing. She resisted beeping Wade on the Kimmunicator; they'd tell her if there was something to do.

Right?

"Talk to me, Wade," she said after dragging out her Kimmunicator from her bag.

Wade blinked at the camera. "Uh, hey Kim. Would-be robbers bagged and tagged?"

Kim grinned. "Slammin'. Anything I could help with?"

"Nope," Wade said. Kim crumpled. "Sorry. Ron had everything handled the minute he showed up. Apparently, they were begging him to stop his monologue about how he single-handedly took down goons of guys five times there size."

Kim felt a wry half-grin slipped its way back onto her lips. "Sounds like our Mr. Ego."

Wade laughed. "Yeah. I'll let you know if we need anything, okay?"

The Kimmunicator blanked.

Kim sighed, not even having had the chance to ask about Judge Spicer. She dropped the Kimmunicator back in her bag. The only thing to do was to head to class.

Another week went on like this, with Summer having fully given way to Fall, and Fall into the beginnings of Winter. Government officials began to stream into Middleton, mostly giving speeches at the local college. Even the president was due for a visit soon. All the while, Kim attended every event she could, but she still didn't have a single lead.

Arriving home again, Kim frumped down on the couch, utterly frustrated after a two hour long talk from a Senator about the importance of rebuilding where he inserted how 'for it' _he_ specifically was every two minutes. Kim groaned.

"Something wrong, Kimmie-cub?"

"Dad!" She pushed herself up as her father came around the corner of the kitchen. She had barely seen her father in the past weeks; his work kept him unusually busy. The space center had been launching a new satellite nearly every other day.

"You're home early," she said as he handed her one of two mugs of hot chocolate.

"Most of the new satellite grid is up and running now," he said. "Just need to work out all the kinks, but that shouldn't take long. Should be able to get back to the Kepler project again soon, I hope."

"That's great, Dad," she said.

Her dad peered at her. "Now, I might be a bit older, but I think I know that look from my little girl. Tell me what's wrong?"

Kim sighed. "It's just... Umbra seems like this great hero and I'm supposed to figure out how to prove that she's not, and Shego's with her now and it just makes things harder, and then my trial and what might happen, and what if I'm found guilty?" Kim sunk into the couch cushions.

"Now, now," he said. "Did you actually destroy some of Umbra's stock of goods?"

"No. Shego did."

"Then that'll come out in the court, don't you worry. You're innocent until they can prove otherwise, and if there's no proof, then there's no guilt." He put down his mug. "Now, about this saving the world business..."

"Dad -"

"No, no, just hear me out. You know your mother and I support everything you want to do, but what if you let Ronald handle that, mm? At least for awhile. He seems to have a good handle on things doesn't he?"

"Like a bar of soap," Kim grumbled.

"What now?"

"I said, like a tarred rope."

Her father nodded. "Look, this whole hero thing was fine when you were in grade school and high school, but have you thought about quitting and focusing on your college work?"

"But I love saving the world," Kim said. "I can do both, Dad."

Her father leaned back in his seat and stroked his chin. "There comes a time," he said, "when a Possible has to consider what's best for themselves. To become the person they were meant to be. Why, I remember when I was in high school, I experimented with radioactive isotopes, trying to create a cold fusion reactor. Made good progress too... despite the mutant rats. Then the Middleton Space Center was made and I saw my first rocket enter the sky. I knew what I had to do then, Kimmie. You understand?"

Kim sighed. "Sure, Dad."

"That-a-girl. And remember, there's still openings at the Middleton Institute of Science and Technologies, if you're interested."

Kim said good-night early and went to sleep without eating dinner.

The next morning finally bore fruit.

"I did some digging," Wade said after Kim had woken up. "Norana Umbra. She's been active in the charity community for years, and super active in the last two, but her name almost never comes up on file. I got lucky with a single reference from a water charity and followed the trail. It seems like she's worked personally in the field herself for years."

"Yeah," Kim said, "supervising from an air-conditioned trailer sipping drinks, I bet."

"Actually..."

Wade's image switched with one of Umbra ankle deep in mud. She had nails in her mouth, a hammer in her hand, and an arm holding up a wall. Rain fell in buckets around her, soaking her through, yet the photographer had somehow found a clear spot in the rain to capture the determined look etched into her face. Another image came up with her wading through a river carrying a child, people around her cheering. Another with a man around her shoulders, covered in winter climbing gear with a mountain behind her. Another feeding a literal village.

"Her rescues almost rival yours," Wade said, "but more than that, she's lived and worked in third world countries for the better part of two years and has only recently come back to the developed world.

"How have I not heard about her?" Kim said.

"She's not an international superhero," Wade said. "Her rescues tend to be chance. She even once saved a woman on Mt. Everest when she was on vacation."

"I don't get it," Kim said. "If she's not a supervillain and not even a common criminal, then where did her money come from?"

"She's actually a weapons dealer," Wade said.

"What?!"

Wade nodded and tapped some keys. One of the more common laser pistols Kim had seen in the world came up.

"You've noticed that all the weaponry in the world changed to energy projectiles around the time you were a kid, right? Every single one of them is Umbra's design. Patented. And no one else can actually figure out how to make them and still make them portable. Umbra has the market cornered, and everyone buys from her. Even tanks are outfitted with her tech now."

"Wade," Kim said, "why didn't you mention this weeks ago?"

"I didn't know it was her! The person behind the tech was always a secret. Umbra only recently went public with the info _today_."

Kim considered for a moment. "Wait. Wouldn't that also make her a huge target for supervillains?"

"It would," Wade said. "I would almost say Umbra is daring the supervillain community to come get her."

"Hm."

Wade coughed and adjusted in his seat. "There was... one other thing. You see, that warehouse?"

Kim peered at the screen. "Oh, don't tell me..."

"All Umbra's."

Kim quailed. "Wade! There were rocket launchers!"

"Actually, those were anti-vehicle suppression cannons. Fries electrical systems and brings a vehicle to a halt."

"But... there were so many! Come on. She could have supplied a small army."

Wade looked at her sadly. "The entire warehouse was slated to go to the local police forces with help in 'maintaining the peace.'"

Kim buried her face in her knees. "So I really was trespassing."

"Seems that way," Wade said. He sounded grim. "Look, I'm sure Hank Perkins will be able to find enough evidence to prove your innocence. Your record should speak for itself, really."

"Wait wait," Kim said. "Rewind a bit. Hank Perkins is my _lawyer_?"

"Apparently he comes highly recommended!" Wade said. "He's been working on passing the bar exam for awhile, and after all the supervillains were pardoned, he passed and took up a practice. Most villains go to him now."

"Wade! I am _not_ a villain!"

"I know, but -"

"How do you think this is going to look?"

"Oooooh. Well, your parents didn't know about him when they hired him, I bet."

"He was never worth mentioning!" She rolled over on her bed and buried her head in her pillow. Her reputation was going to be in shambles. She wouldn't even be asked to save a kitten, much less a city or a base or -

"Look, uh... there was one other thing..."

Kim looked up at the screen.

"I just got a hit on the site a few minutes ago. It's an anonymous tip, but..."

"Wade," Kim said.

"Alright, alright," he said. "It's on Umbra. Apparently, one of her workers called in a tip on the location of a secret manufacturing plant."

"One of her _workers_..."

Wade, who had progressively gotten more dour looking as he talked, looked a bit brighter. "Yeah, I didn't think it was really worth mentioning anyway. I'll just -"

"Still," Kim said, intentionally cutting him off, "it sounds suspicious." She tried to keep the twitching smile from reaching the corner of her mouth.

Wade grimaced, but continued. "Look, the tip doesn't mention _what_ they're building, only that he thinks it's a weapon."

Kim groaned and flopped on her bed. "And _that_ doesn't tell us anything."

When Wade didn't say anything, she sat up and looked at the Kimmunicator. "Wade..."

He filched. "Alright. Thing is, I found the records for the factory. Its address was actually obscured, and it's publicly listed as a _food processing_ plant."

"Bingo."

"Kim," Wade said, "I know what you're thinking. Listen to me: Ron can handle this. I can send him as soon as he gets back from the robbery."

Kim considered. "No. I'm going to go myself."

"Kim, your bail terms. And if this is a trap-"

"All the better reason I should go by myself," Kim said. "I don't want Ron involved in this if it _is_ a trap."

"And if it is," Wade said, "you could get in even more trouble than you are now."

Kim grinned. "But you have a few tricks up your sleeve for me, don't you Wade?"

Wade fidgeted. "I may have been working on something that could help. Just in case."

"Wade, you rock."


	4. Sitch of a Different Color

_**A/N** : I couldn't help myself. I had to upload this a few hours early. Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter 4 - Sitch of a Different Color**

* * *

"You realize you could go back to jail for this... right?"

Kim finished tightening down her boots and stood to view her reflection. She had turned off her light an hour ago, her parents and brothers long since asleep. The only light came from the dimly glowing screen of the Kimmunicator, illuminating the hanging dust in the air.

"Wade, I'll be fine. The new black suit looks great, by the way."

"Stealth tech in every polymer," Wade said. "It _should_ have less problems than the battle suit since it has none of its strength enhancements." He paused, and the ever constant clacking keys stopped. "I think I'm going to go radio silent while you're out unless something comes up. Just in case."

Kim looked at the screen and perked a brow. "Is the great lord of the computer afraid of getting hacked?"

Wade vehemently waved a hand. "No! It's just... a precaution." He started typing again. "Things have been weird on the local networks; vast loads of encrypted data flowing through the channels for the last week."

"Sounds like something is up," Kim said. "Perfect."

"You sure you don't want me to call Ron?"

"Doubly sure. I don't want him any more involved than he already is."

"Be careful. Beginning radio silence."

Kim stared at the blank screen after Wade had switched off. "Sorry Wade." She unstrapped it from her wrist and left it on her nightstand.

The window opened with a creak, making Kim cringe. She checked behind her and strained her eyes, but no other sound came. She activated her stealth system - turning completely invisible - slipped through her curtains, and reached up to pull the window back down.

She padded her way down the driveway, dirt muffling her steps, and she passed her car. The old manufacturing plant was on the other side of town, but Kim couldn't take the risk of her car being seen missing, or her parents noticing. She'd have to hoof it.

So Kim fell upon the packed dirt of the streets in a loping jog, her house disappearing behind so many others.

The night air was crisp and welcome. Kim breathed in the cold, let it fill her lungs, cool her nose. Running kept her warm, and the steady padding of her feet gave her a sound to focus on, each impact sending tremors through her soles.

It would take over an hour to get to the factory, so Kim passed the time by going over how she might enter, how to find the proof she needed (she double checked she brought her camera with her,) and how to get out. All the usual things she went over pre-mission. But her thoughts kept going to her classes, her trial, and what would happen if it all went wrong. Kim Possible, the criminal.

She shook the thought from her head and instead, focused on her breathing. In and out, each step of the way. The pounding of her feet, the dull ache of her calves as time went on.

She entered the industrial district. Much of it was lined with a tall chain link fence, but this was easily scalable, if noisy. The sound practically thundered in Kim's ears as she climbed.

Scraps of thick plastic wrap, packing pellets, and torn cardboard littered the gutters of the street. She half expected to see rats, but only oil stains and an overpowering smell of chemicals greeted her. Perhaps the rats were smarter than she.

She paced through at a light jog until, finally, she saw it; Middleton Manufacturing and Maintenance. At least, that's what the worn, painted letters on the brown brick wall said. It looked for all intents and purposes like the abandoned building it was supposed to be. The rusted chain link fence didn't even go all the way around anymore, its links long ago having failed down the middle. Kim slipped right through.

Nothing came out to stop her. No alarms sounded. Kim bit her lip, then made her way to the steel door with peeling paint. It was bolted shut with thick chains, rusted, but still strong.

She looked around. A bit of drain pipe hung from the roof a few feet away. She walked over and tested it; it felt loose but stable under her fingers. She climbed and the piped rattled. More than once, she had to stop for fear of it breaking underneath her. But she didn't have to climb far.

She reached the window, which had been completely knocked out; only a broken frame remained. Through the window, Kim could barely see past the pitch darkness. Kim felt a pang of disappointment, but squinted into the black, trying to see any glimmer of light, any sign of movement in the dark building.

Nothing.

She chewed her lip. Just as she was about to climb back down, something flashed in the window. She jerked her head back towards it, but whatever it was, it was gone. But it came from inside.

"Got you now, _Ms. Umbra_ ," Kim said. She grasped the sides of the window and hauled herself inside...

... and was instantly blinded by light. Kim panicked and fell, landing hard on her rear.

"You heard that _now_?!" A man said near her.

"Yeah...," another said. "Yeah, I definitely heard somethin'. This place is haunted, I tell ya!"

"You idiot! This place ain't haunted. Go get the boss!"

"Er, you sure? I mean -"

"Go get the boss!"

"R-right."

Slowly, Kim's vision adjusted to the bright lights. She bolted to her feet when a 200 pound man came into focus, standing less than a foot away, and another, skinnier man who was quickly disappearing behind a set of columns, past the little open room they were in. Something like old boilers stood against the wall, though the rest of the room was new.

Kim snapped up and hit the nearest goon in the side of the head. The other had just enough time to look behind him, cry out, and sprint down the hall. Kim nearly cursed and took off after him, still invisible.

In the next instant, she tackled him to the pristine white walls and knocked him out too... then noticed that his hand was covering a pulled lever.

Sirens blared and echoed throughout the entire compound. Yet a familiar voice managed to shout above it. "WILL SOMEONE SHUT OFF THAT _RACKET?!_ "

Kim suppressed a gasp. She was at the end of the hallway, and it emptied out into a wide open area.

The first thing Kim noticed was the scent of burning plastic and hot metal filling her nose. Below her, a catwalk staircase led down into what might have been the most advanced factory Kim had ever seen. Pure white machinery surrounded a long, winding conveyor belt that snaked through the whole operation. Rumbling machines covered parts of the belts, accepting separate smaller pieces and making larger, combined pieces that exited on the other side. And on the far end of the lowered factory, on a raised platform equal with Kim's position, stood Shego.

Shego leaned over the railing and shouted down. "Shut off the machines!"

One white clad man looked up. "But ma'am -"

"Shut off!" She flared plasma. "The machines!"

The man gulped, nodded, and ran off.

People stood around, dressed in lab coats with facial masks on. The two Kim had knocked out were similarly dressed.

Shego pointed at another worker. "Hey! You!"

"Bobby, sir!"

"Haha, yeah, you? You go check over there. You see that body? It had a partner. _Find it._ "

Kim glanced below her and noticed that the second victim she had knocked out was hanging outside of the hall. This time, she _did_ curse at herself.

The man scrambled to follow Shego's orders. Kim started creeping away from the body as not to accidentally run into Bobby the Factory Worker.

"Alright!" Shego said, addressing the manufacturing line as a whole. "Looks like we have an intruder, and I'd bet money that it's a rat named 'Kim Possible.'"

The factory murmured uneasily. Kim skirted around the peon Shego had sent as he passed on the stairs up to Kim's former position.

"Quiet!" Shego said.

"But ma'am," a woman said this time, "why would Kim Possible come here?"

"Yeah, doll? Why don't you leave the thinking to me and _stay_. _Quiet_."

The workers just looked at each other this time, and ceased to make a sound.

Kim crept closer, while Shego continued to scan the room. Kim grinned with how easy this was going to be. She skirted everyone she came across, quiet as a cat, until finally, she reached the head of the apparent assembly line and saw a very familiar sight.

Drakken's doom bots. And with Umbra's weapon expertise, Kim had no doubt that the faulty AI was now fixed. Quietly as she could, she unbuttoned her pouched and pulled out the camera she had taken with her, pointing it at the nearly completed bots.

A flash of green and the camera flew right out of her hands. Her gloves burned hot and she pulled them off. The connection broken, Kim fizzled into view.

"Well well," Shego said, "look who it is everyone? The favorite hero." Shego laughed. "Next time, pumpkin, try not to hold something while you're invisible? Dead giveaway."

Shego flared her plasma and vaulted over the guardrail, dropping just in front of Kim. Several people started backing up.

Kim squared her feet. "Doesn't matter. All I have to do is show this place to the police, and then everyone will know what kind of person Umbra is."

Shego grinned. "Oooooor..." She reached down to her ankle pouch and pulled out a remote, depressing the red button on its face.

"SELF-DESTRUCT IN 60 SECONDS."

This was so predictable. "Everyone get out!" Kim yelled, but people were already scrambling for the exits and flooding outside.

"Except for you!" Shego said and leapt into the fight.

They fought through the building, using assembly lines, incomplete robot arms, and walking platforms as their weapons and battleground. Plasma shot in every direction and Kim dodged it all. Steam started to fill the area, making it hard to see Shego in it.

"What's wrong, Kimmie?" Shego said as flipped Kim over her shoulder. "Scared the wittle copsies are gonna take you away?"

Kim skidded into a landing and barely had enough time to get her bearings before Shego was in her face, plasma swerving around her head. "Get real, Shego," Kim said, dodging left and right. She planted a fist into Shego's ribs, smashing her into one of the machines.

Shego crawled out of it. "You're gonna pay for that, cupc-"

"LOCK-DOWN INITIATED."

Shego jerked to a stop and looked up. Kim nearly took the opening, but hesitated, dropping her own guard.

"What?" Kim said.

"I don't remember anything about a-"

Around them, heavy metal doors sprang down over the windows, the doorways, and even the air vents. The ground shuddered underneath them, and the air rang with the vibrations of steel.

"Welcome ladies."

Overhead, a wall had turned into a screen and the giant face of Norana Umbra faced them. "I hate to be melodramatic about this, but I suppose some rules need to obeyed. Welcome to my little death trap, Kim Possible. I hope you enjoy the next few seconds."

Kim opened her mouth to respond, but in the next moment, the screen blanked out.

"What?!" Kim said. "No rant? No telling me how or why she did it?"

Shego shrugged. "Eh, she's new at this."

"That was so lame!"

"IMPLOSION IN TEN SECONDS."

"Uh, Shego?"

"Come on!" They ran to the wall and Shego battered the steel with green bolts.

"EIGHT."

"Shego!"

"I'm trying!"

"SEVEN."

"It's not working!"

"SIX."

"Can't you amp it up?!"

"FIVE."

"It's plasma proof!"

"FOUR."

"Shield?"

"Shego!"

"THREE."

"Shield?!"

"This suit's only stealth!"

"TWO."

" _Shego_!"

" _Shut up_!"

"ONE."

Then things happened very quickly. Shego grabbed Kim and threw her against the wall and Kim's vision filled with green. From the center of the building, an explosion rang out and the green around them flickered. Pieces of metal flew through it, molten hot. The green sputtered, and Shego suddenly slammed into Kim, back first, and Kim's vision went dark.

~oO0Oo~

Bright, white light burned Kim's eyes. She groaned, and tried to move, but her body felt heavy.

Someone said something she couldn't make out.

Slowly, her vision started to focus. At first, all the white made Kim think she was still in the factory. But slowly, the white took on a more gray color, the walls far closer and lower than the factory's had been.

Her mouth was dry. She blinked tears out of her eyes and forced them into painful focus.

The first thing she noticed as she began to regain her senses was the steady, quiet, beeping. The smell of disinfectant and open wounds. A quiet, distant murmuring.

Steadily, her eyes focused. She lay in a bed, her leg held aloft in a sling, and a handcuff clasped around one of her wrists. A blanket loosely covered her body and her other arm was... laying there.

She tried to move it. Nothing happened. Her shoulder moved some, but her arm just dragged behind it. Curl her fingers? No. Move her wrist? No.

Kim tried to suck air through her too-narrow throat. She couldn't move. She was paralyzed.

"Hey, calm down."

Kim jerked her head - at least she could move that - and saw Shego laying in a bed across from her. Cuts lined her face and her wrist was cuffed to her own bed.

"Shego?" Her mouth felt sticky, and it hurt to talk.

"Yeah," she said. "Listen, you're fine. Suits gave us some kind of nerve toxin." She glanced up at a hanging bag of green liquid that lead to their IV drips. "So calm down before I start blasting things to get away from the noise."

Kim snorted and laughed, which hurt. Her breathing slowed. "If you could do that, I don't think we'd be talking right now."

"Please. As if I could be kept in a bed."

"You've obviously made such progress getting out of it."

"I'm working on it."

Kim laid her head back and let it sink into the pillow. An overhead fan sent a light breeze over her skin. Outside, she heard the beeps of calls coming in, nurses exchanging information on their patients, and steel carts rumbling by. And their window was barred.

"Where are we?" Kim said. Then she nearly jumped (or at least her head did) when she noticed a blonde officer slumbering in the chair next to the bed, her hair falling over her face.

"It's not _incredibly_ obvious?" Shego said.

"Well, it's a hospital," Kim said.

"... I didn't knock anything loose in that thing you call a brain, did I?"

"You -"

The door to their room slammed as if something had run into it.

The guard jerked awake and was on her feet in a second, her hand on her gun. She glanced from Kim to Shego, then stepped around their beds towards the door. Kim and Shego glanced towards each other and watched their guard reach out...

"No, I don't care what people say she's done," a man said from outside. Her father. "We're her parents. We have a right!"

Someone outside murmured something Kim couldn't hear.

Their guard sighed, took one last look at Kim and Shego in their beds, and left, shutting the door behind her.

A din of quiet fell over the room. Kim and Shego waited, their ears tilted towards the entrance. In the next moment, the door burst open and inside walked the lady guard and...

"Greetings! I'm Hank Perkins!"

Hank wore a broad grin and a pressed suit. Kim caught a fleeting glance of her father in the doorway as the guard left the room and shut it behind her. A heavy bolt slammed into the frame from the other side.

Hank stood at the foot of their beds and beamed at them both. "I've been hired to represent you in your upcoming case," he said.

Kim and Shego looked at each other.

"Who are you representing?" Shego said.

"Why, both of you, of course!"

Kim and Shego turned back to each other. Shego looked murderous. Kim could nearly relate.

"There has to be a mistake," Kim said. "You were already hired to represent me in my previous case."

"We decided that it would be best for me to represent you at this case as well, given my past experience with villain cases."

"I'm not a villain!" Kim said.

"And me?" Shego said. "I didn't hire you in the first place."

"No," Hank said, "but the state did. I volunteered for the city's public defender program just to take the case. It's a real opportunity!"

" _Opportunity?!_ "

Shego surely would have glowed a bright green if she could, but as it was, her head just strained against the weight of her body.

Hank backed away nonetheless.

"Not to worry, not to worry! I have it all under control. The trial is set for next week-"

Kim tried with all her might to bolt up, but only succeeded in lifting her head a bit further. "Next week?!"

Hank Perkins smiled. "Why yes! They asked if we could use your court date from your previous charge, and I heartily agreed! Best to get these things out of the way you know. They were quite concerned about my having enough time to gather evidence, but I put those fears right to rest."

Kim slumped back into her pillow.

"I hate you," Shego said.

"Now, Shego," Hank said, "didn't any of my lessons about team building stick?"

"If I had my plasma, you'd be sticking to the walls pretty well."

"Er, yes, well..."

"Hank," Kim said, "what have I- _we_ been charged with?"

"Why, terrorism, of course!"

Something inside Kim curled up, died, and left a very ugly corpse. She mouthed the word.

Hank did a little bounce on his feet. "Yes, quite the pickle that one, but don't worry! We'll knock it right out of the park!"

"W-" Kim's throat had gone even more dry. She coughed, but was unable to move to make it easier.

"Yes, it's quite the charge, I'm afraid," Hank said. "But I think I've gathered enough evidence to get the charges dropped! After you hit that self-destruct... well, boy howdy."

"I didn't hit the self-destruct!" Kim said, sucking air.

"Good! That's good!" Hank said. "Just keep up that story and we'll make it out of the courtroom alright. Now, my time is almost up for now. Other villains to see, you know. Not to worry! I'll be back to take your statements and discuss strategies with you soon! It's going to be a cinch, just you wait!"

Hank turned and walked towards the door. Two knocks, the door unbolted, and Hank left the room, replaced with the blonde guard. She glanced at the two of them again, then sat down in her seat in the corner of the room.

"Shego," Kim said.

Shego inclined her head a millimeter, but Kim noticed the guard perk her head up in the same instant.

Kim reconsidered, and eventually just fell silent. Shego leaned back into her pillow.

Thoughts coursed through Kim's head like a river in a flood. Terrorism. Kim Possible was accused of terrorism. And what if...

"Ma'am!" she said, turning her head towards the guard. "Ma'am, please... is anyone hurt? Did everyone make it out alright?"

The officer just narrowed her eyes at her.

Shego laughed once. "Don't bother. We're in Upperton Medical. Police around here aren't as used to seeing you every day."

They should still have heard about her! Known she helped out Middleton on a near daily basis.

But if she was accused of terrorism...

Had she caused anyone to get hurt? Or worse. Her heart ached. If she had never gone to that factory, if she had just stayed home like she was supposed to, if she just... didn't do it.

In all her years of teen rescues, never had she run afoul of the law. Sure, a few times she had to explain things, but she was always let go in the end.

But this...

"Stop worrying."

Kim jerked towards Shego. "What?"

Shego grimaced. "I said, 'stop worrying.' I can hear your scowling from here. It's _annoying_. Your face is so scrunched up, you'll end up looking more like your nana before we get out of here."

Kim looked away. "... you might actually be right. If we ever get out."

"Oh please. Save me the pity party, Kimmie; I'm trying to sleep before I have to deal with the Pollyanna mouthpiece again."

Frustration welled up in Kim. She wanted so badly to ball her fist, to lash out at something. As it was, her neck muscles tensed so much it hurt. "So sorry you can't sleep," she said. "I forgot how unimportant prison time is to someone who practically has a prison rewards card!"

"Ooo," Shego said mockingly. "Kitten's got claws." She huffed. "Gimmmie a break."

Kim growled. "I'd have more than claws if I could get off this bed."

"Bored now." And Shego turned her head away from Kim, and from that moment onward, no matter how Kim prodded, she couldn't get Shego to respond.

She eventually gave up, but laying in bed, watching nurses come and go, occasionally sipping water, and listening to the guard cough was excruciatingly boring. She tried to make some kind of game out of moving her head. Then she tried to count the spots on the roof. She even got the brainwashing shampoo rap stuck in her head. With a severe lack of anything better to do, she turned her thoughts to what happened.

She studiously ignored any thoughts about possible deaths and instead, focused on the events as they stood; if she was going to court in a week, she was going to be ready. She went over her approach, why she had left (maybe she should leave that out?), how she had got in, her fight with Shego. _Shego_ hitting the button, _Shego_ starting the fight, _Shego_... saving her?

She thought back to the fight, the walls, the way the fight stopped, the way Shego had looked. She had tried to get out and was trapped just like Kim.

Then Kim realized just how much she had been manipulated. She realized that every step of the way, Umbra had probably been playing her. This was just the next step.

Shego would run. She wouldn't go to trial with Kim; she'd leave Kim to take the fall and let her rot, just as Umbra planned.

Terrorism.

Kim grew angry. She ground her teeth, bit her tongue. She wouldn't let them get away with it. As soon as she was out, she was taking Umbra down.

There was a knock at the door and Kim's head jerked up. The door opened, and even Shego peered over in curiosity.

However, it was just another guard. A man this time, and the woman to Kim's side looked relieved.

"About time you showed up," she said. "I'm 20 minutes past my shift."

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "Traffic, you know? Hey, where's the remote? Umbra was supposed to be giving a speech today. I wanted to catch it."

She reached down to the stand beside Kim and tossed it to him. "Groupie."

He grinned at her and she left while the man flopped into the chair and turned on the television, flipping the channels. Kim noticed Shego glance at her out of the corner of her eye, but Kim studiously ignored her.

Finally, the officer found the channel he was looking for. There, Umbra was just coming up to the podium.

Kim grimaced. _Convenient_.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Umbra said on the television. "I come to you today to talk about the events of yesterday night.

"I join you in your grief," she said. "I too could not believe the stories when I heard them. Kim Possible, branded a terrorist. She may have been an overeager vigilante reaching beyond her scope, but she always seemed to have good intentions, and the world loved her for it."

The microphones picked up murmurs of agreement from the crowd. Every muscle in Kim's neck tensed.

Umbra seemed genuinely sad as she nodded and held her hands up for quiet. "Yes, I found it hard to believe. However, a factory constructing robots to help with the rebuilding of this fair city was violently and maliciously destroyed, and I come to you today with evidence that I would like to make public."

Kim and Shego exchanged glances, and Kim immediately berated herself for it. She turned stubbornly back to the television.

"As it so happens, I have all my cam footage uploaded to remote locations in real time as an additional security measure. The footage I'm about to show you has already been vetted by the Middleton police force as genuine. It may be painful, but I ask you to watch so that the world might know the truth."

The next few seconds sent Kim spiraling into a wellspring of endless despair. The screen changed to a camera showing the inside of the factory she had broken into. A moment later, a window slide open, and through it dropped Camille.

In an exact duplicate of Kim.

Kim's mouth hung open and she glanced to Shego, whose expression was stoney.

On screen, "Kim" walked to the center of the building and took to a knee, pulling something out of her pack. Pulling _explosives_ out of her pack. She set them around a support pillar, and stood. The feed cut, and again the feat was repeated on a different area. And again. And again.

A worker came through a door in the rear of the feed. The Kim recoiled, and with a flying kick, knocked him off-screen. She completed a single more round of charges, and then dragged the unconscious worker to the rear and off-screen.

The feed cut back to Umbra, now visibly distraught. The previous clicking and flashing of cameras and the low constant murmur that filled the air now gave way to a grave silence.

"Yes," Umbra said, apparently trying to pull herself together and wiping a single tear from her eye, "it is truly a dark day for us all. I will leave it up to the courts to decide what to make of this evidence. That is all the time I can give you for now. I'm afraid I'm needed elsewhere."

The crowd instantly broke its silence. Cameras burst into action, questions were shouted, but Umbra was led offstage by her guard.

Kim stared with rapt attention, intending to absorb every morsel of detail, but the screen switched off and she panicked at the sudden lack.

Desperate for anything, she glanced towards Shego again and instantly broke out into a cold sweat.

Shego's hands were glowing green.


	5. Fire

**Chapter 5 - Fire**

* * *

"Shego!" Kim strained her neck, trying to get up, but the toxin held her fast.

Unlike, it seemed, Shego. Her plasma was dim, flickering against the bright lights in the ceiling... but her arms were moving, straining their way off her mattress.

Their guard sprang up, bounded over, and pressed his meaty palms into Shego's wrists.

He turned his head to the door. "I need some help in here!" Then, "Shego! Stand down! The entire department knows where you are. You can't escape from here!"

"That," Shego said, straining, "sounds like a challenge."

A young, skinny guard burst through the door. He took in the scene then talked into his radio before rushing forward to help his companion.

The guards focused on her head and arms. All the while, Shego's leg kept trying to raise itself up.

"Watch out!" Kim said.

The older guard laughed. "Yeah," he said between huffs, "like I'm gonna-"

Shego's foot slammed into the back of his head. He slammed into into the nightstand with a sickening crack, and collapsed with a muted thump.

Through the open door came two large men in white, one carrying a syringe. Shego raised her hands (the younger guard's hands still clasped around her wrists) and fired two streams of roaring plasma. They caught the orderlies in the chest and blasted them against the wall. They fell with the scent of burnt cotton and didn't get back up.

Shego turned with a feral grin to the younger officer. He gulped, then was tossed with a high pitched scream, only to stop once he hit the wall.

Shego ripped her handcuffed arm free, blasted the chain off, then the cuff itself. She stood, wobbled, and fell forward, catching herself on the guardrail of Kim's bed.

"Shego, stop!" Kim said. "You're just going to get yourself into more trouble!"

Shego flashed a feral grin. "Sounds fun." She glanced up, towards their barred window, and gave Kim a two fingered salute. "Later princess. Maybe you can send me a letter from jail."

Kim glared as Shego, laughing, blasted the window and bars clear off. With a glance back, she stumbled outside, and dropped out of sight.

The hole smoked from the plasma's heat. People shouted from the halls, a nurse came in, promptly fainted, and another followed behind. She called for stretchers, then went around to each person to check for injuries. She glanced back at Kim as she left, yelling about evacuating.

Kim strained an ear towards the hole, but only heard the sounds of frantic shouting in the hall.

Then the sounds of plasma blasts echoed off the walls. The building shook and rattled. Lights flickered. Smoke began to filter through the hole and collect on the roof.

Distantly, sirens sounded, getting louder.

Kim glanced above her head. There was a headboard she could push off against. Maybe if she could remove the drip, she could regain some movement in time to avoid suffocation.

She pushed against the board with her head, trying to force her body to the side. She strained, but her body didn't move. Her head just didn't have enough leverage. She thrust her head into the pillow in frustration.

The smoke was getting thicker.

"Help!"

"Kim!"

Her head snapped up.

"Ron?!" She coughed. "In here!"

Below her, the guard started to stir from where he lay. He groaned.

"Ron!"

"KP!" Ron appeared at the door and leaped over each of the bodies littering the floor. He leaned over her bed. "KP, are you alright?!"

Kim coughed. "I'm fine, Ron. Paralyzed. Help the others."

"We gotta get you out of here!"

"Ron, listen to me-"

"Not so fast, son."

It was the guard, now on his feet. He stared between Ron and Kim, then noticed where his partner was. He grabbed his radio.

"Shego's escaped. Officer down. Need immediate backup. Kimberly Possible still in custody."

The radio squelched an acknowledgment. The officer glanced between Kim and Ron again, then grabbed Ron by the shoulder. He coughed.

"Come on," the officer said, "help me get him out of here."

"Wha- no, I gotta-"

"It's okay Ron," Kim said. She coughed again. "Please. Help them get out of here."

Ron frowned, but nodded. Together, the officer and Ron hauled the younger officer out of the room, and set to work carrying one of the orderlies before nurses arrived with stretchers.

The two went back to Kim.

"Come on," Ron said. "We need to get her out of here."

Kim's lungs burned, and her eyes watered. She looked at the guard. He looked back and grunted.

"Fine," he said. "Let's go."

The nurses cleared out a path, carrying the last orderly away, and Kim was wheeled out into the hall beyond, closing the door behind them to trap the smoke.

Outside was pandemonium. The fire alarm was ringing. People ran back and forth. Some carried fire extinguishers, others wheeled patients or helped them walk. An imperious looking woman with large glasses walked into the middle of an intersection nearby. "Everyone move to the eastern wing! Patients first!" Then she spotted their little group. "You there! Officer! Come with me! I need your help with the infirm."

He stood up a little straighter. "Ma'am, my orders are to guard this woman an-"

The woman marched right up to him and jabbed him in the chest. "I have 50 people in this ward, some on ventilators, and it's filling up with smoke. People are going to die unless I can get them out and you are going to help or so help me, I will not stop until you are personally held responsible."

He seemed to stand up even straighter after that. He glanced back at Kim.

"She is completely paralyzed and obviously has someone to wheel her out of the wing. She isn't going anywhere, now _come with me_."

He took one last glance at Kim and then nodded at the woman. They took off down the hall.

"Come on, KP," Ron said. "Let's get you out of here."

Kim coughed and nodded. She kept trying to move her arms, her legs, but nothing cooperated. She was useless. She frowned, and let Ron wheel her out, towards the eastern wing, her hanging leg wobbling precariously under the overhanging hook. Ahead, two nurses stood at fire doors and pulled them open. They spotted Kim in the bed and glanced at each other, but otherwise didn't make a move to stop them.

"So I was thinking, KP," Ron said, as he wheeled her out. "Wade already hacked into the systems here. We could sneak you out the back with the other patients and be out of here in time to catch Umbra and Shego in the act of... whatever it is they're doing."

"What?" Kim said.

Ron wheeled her around a corner and chuckled nervously when he saw a doctor there talking quickly with a nurse. He waited until they passed them by a good distance before he continued.

"Yeah, see," Ron said, "we go track down Umbra, bust up her operation, and come back with proof you didn't do anything!"

"Ron, I'm not busting out," Kim said.

Ron craned his head over the headrest to peer at her while he pushed her bed.

"Why not? Come on, KP. They're totally setting you up. You're not a terrorist. Rufus is more a terrorist to nacos than you are to people."

Rufus poked his head out and chittered. Kim was fairly certain it was in agreement.

"So we bust ya out of here, track down Shego and Umbra, and bring back proof that you're innocent before the day's done."

"Ron, I _am_ innocent."

"See, that's what I'm sayin'! So let's prove it."

"Ron, no, stop the bed. Ron, stop."

Ron obliged after a moment. The bed squeaked to a halt on the glossy floor. A doctor swept by in a flurry of her coat. Ron waited until she passed before speaking. "What's up, KP?"

Kim looked at him. "Ron... I'm not going to escape."

"KP..."

"I'm going to stay," she said. "I know I'm innocent. And everyone else should too. Running won't prove that."

"But the video-"

"Doesn't prove anything." Kim hacked and coughed, the ghost of smoke still hanging in her throat. "Hold my hand?"

Ron started, then took her hand. It felt good just to have it moved.

"Ron, I've got to stay. If I run, I just look guilty. I've got to stay and let justice take its course."

Ron looked at her. "But what if they don't say you're innocent? What if Umbra makes up some kinda mega fake evidence against you? ... what if they say you're guilty?"

"I won't be," Kim said. "Promise. They'll see. And if Umbra makes up evidence against me, we'll just prove it's fake."

Ron looked at her, his brows furrowed. His cheek dented inward where he chewed on it, and Kim wished she could touch it to reassure him.

"Alright, KP," he said finally, "but Wade and I will try to find every last scrap of evidence we can to prove you're innocent."

Kim tried her best to smile and make it reach her eyes. "Thanks Ron," she said. "You guys are the best."

"Ain't nothing to it," Ron said, grinning indulgently. "Agent Stoppable is on the case, KP."

Kim laughed, a single, choking guffaw, and felt just a bit of the tension biting into her neck ease.

But every moment the bed wheeled down the hall, Kim thought about telling Ron to gun it towards the other patients, towards the exits. To go it alone and prove her own innocence.

The bed wheeled past another pair of fire doors, and they were in the east ward. A sudden welling of panic took hold in her heart, wrenching it this way and that, and all she could think about was how that video was going to look in court.

A nurse directed their bed to the side of the nurse's station, where several other patients lined up in a morbid parade of sickness. Ron stood at her side for a minute before someone chastised him for taking up walking space during an emergency, and he retreated to behind Kim's head, where she couldn't see him.

The ward was almost as busy as the west ward. Nurses yelled to relay information across the halls. Someone - a visitor - spilled coffee on the floor next Kim's bed, and it spread beneath it. A towel was thrown down to soak up the most of it, then kicked to the side and abandoned for more pressing issues.

Kim tried to think of anything but her trial while she waited.

Eventually, things died down. Most of the patients had been evacuated and the fires put out. Shego had, apparently, escaped, or else news of her recapture was being suppressed. Wade, on Ron's Kimmunicator, confirmed the former.

Eventually, Ron had to leave. He hugged her goodbye, pecked her cheek with his lips, and gave a feeble wave before walking out of sight.

Eventually, Ron's place was taken back by the older officer who had been guarding her. He glared down at her and Kim wiggled her fingers up at him.

His eyes bulged in their sockets. He grabbed a passerby. "Where is this patient's drip? She should be completely unable to move at all times."

The nurse looked young to have still been in school and shook from head to toe. "I-I don't know, sir..."

The officer threw her arm away, disgusted. "Then find me someone who does."

The nurse nodded and scampered away.

"You didn't have to do that," Kim said.

The guard's glare only became more severe. "I didn't ask your opinion, inmate."

"Hey, if I can move-" she wiggled her fingers experimentally, then lifted her arm - "I could probably escape if I wanted to. I haven't."

The guard gave a humorless laugh. "Right. Kid, your leg is in a sling and this place is surrounded by officers. There's an investigation going on right now. You wouldn't get past this building, much less the hospital."

Kim smirked. "I've done better."

"Just pipe down."

"Oh come on. I just want to stretch a bit." She did so, stretching out her good leg and her arms. Her bones popped. Her muscles were still sore, stiff, and slow from the remaining toxin, but she could move.

"Put your hands on the bed, inmate," He reached out and pinned her uncuffed arm back to the bed. "You're going stay still and stay quiet until I can get another drip for you."

Kim pouted. "What did I do to you?"

The intercom sounded, calling for a doctor. The guard considered her for a moment while they waited for it to finish, then slid a chair over to beside Kim's bed. A nurse glared at him from down the hall, but didn't say anything. The intercom finished and shut off with the plastic clack of a phone headset.

"You want to know, do you?" he said. "You know how much trouble you cause officers like me? I've had nothing but stress for the last six years because of you."

Kim started, but the officer didn't give her time to respond.

"I've been on nearly double full-time duty ever since I came to Upperton. Your little 'adventures' were one of the first things I had to deal with, cleaning up after you. We made a case on you. We were going to bring you in and stop your little teen adventuring, but then that damned hero law passed and our case disappeared. We just had to deal with you. And you made life hell for us."

Kim stared. How was she making things hard on them? She saved people! She brought all sorts of criminals in. But something in her brain stuck and she stayed silent and listened.

"We made a pool" he said, "on when you'd quit or get injured or keel over. But you just kept going." He huffed through his nose. "Constant paperwork, constant influx of criminals, and constant break outs even before we could hand them over to the feds. You attracted trouble here like none the city had seen. Constant threats, constant calls. Life was miserable for everyone who lived here."

Kim rose a little off the bed. "I save the world!"

"Yeah," the officer said, "from things you cause. If you weren't here, lots of other things we have to deal with every day wouldn't either. Who do you think has to deal with all these lunatics after you're done with them?"

"I didn't -"

"Save it."

Kim stared at him, and with a start, she realized that this guard might hate her. "You don't understand..."

"No, you don't understand little girl. You do things that no one else can get away with. You do things that should be left to law enforcement or military, not a high school cheerleader with an over-sized ego."

"You want me to let the police take down Dr. Drakken and his weather machines and doomsday lasers," Kim said. "Just sit by and let the police try to enter his lairs and stop his schemes before they've even gotten wind of it." She snorted. "Right."

The officer's face went a lovely shade of purple and his eyes might have popped from their sockets where he stood. When he spoke, his words were carefully clipped. "You're just lucky I like my badge, or you'd be wishing for the comforts of a hard hospital bed. Understand me?"

Her heart thumped in her chest and a wave of fear washed through her body. A split second later, she forced it down and glared, and finally settled on what she hoped was a relaxed smirk. "It actually _is_ pretty comfortable," Kim said, "after you get used to the bed sores."

The officer's face turned a shade of red that made Kim sure a light touch would make it pop. After a time of staring down at Kim's smirking face, he grabbed a magazine and attempted to ignore her except to make sure she was still not moving.

Extra guards came into the ward a short time later, placed around the entrances and doorways, in case Shego decided to come back and rescue her "partner." Kim decide to remain quiet; anything she said wouldn't have helped matters anyway. Her guard gave a statement and was, eventually, relieved due to injuries when Shego had kicked him. He glared at Kim once more, and left in a huff.

He was replaced by another woman police officer, but Kim no longer felt like talking, nor moving. The supply of neuro-toxin was, apparently, limited, and Shego's break out had destroyed most of their stock. Kim was free of it for a while at least, but as she made no move to escape, the guards seemed to relax. Eventually, they received word that, given that Shego had already escaped and Kim could no longer assist her, she would be allowed to remain off it.

Her parents still weren't allowed in to see her, but Hank did eventually return. Kim tried to explain that Ron and Wade were going to help find evidence for him, but he assured her he had already built a rock solid case for her and wouldn't hear of it. She eventually wore him down, and he agreed to at least look at what they brought him.

After a night next to the east ward's nurse's station, Kim was given a new room, this one without bars, though the officer at least matched the drapes.

Kim passed the days mostly by going over past missions in her head. Her legs twitched when she imagined a kick, her arm when she felt a punch connect. It made whatever guard was on duty flinch every time she did so.

The news only ever mentioned that Shego had escaped the first three days, and each time, Kim silently steamed about how this had probably been Shego's and Umbra's plan all along.

Then, in the evening of the fourth, the story changed.

"Another factory was destroyed last night as Shego, former assistant to philanthropist Norana Umbra, attacked and overwhelmed another of the businesswoman's charitable holdings.

"Umbra made a statement earlier today. However, it was quickly interrupted. We must warn you that the following video is graphic and not suitable for all ages."

The screen switched to Umbra behind another of her podiums. "I'm completely distraught. People warned me about Shego countless times, but I ignored them. I thought that here was a woman deserving of a second chance. I'm sad to say that I was wrong. I only wish that we could have done more good -"

A burst of green plasma made the podium buckle and crumble as a large chunk was taken out of it. The camera swerved and found Shego on nearby roof, hurling plasma down in the rough direction of the stage. She spotted the camera, flipped down off the roof and swung herself around into a kick. The screen paused right on her foot.

The screen changed back to the newsroom. "Shego escaped authorities once again, and is still at large. Umbra was unavailable for additional comment, but is apparently unharmed. Police are calling for any information the public might have as to Shego's whereabouts."

The set went to a commercial, and Kim, open mouthed, jumped as she heard a deep chortle from beside her. In the chair next to her, her new guard smiled.

"So what do you say, Possible?" he said. "Care to rat out your partner?"


	6. The Trial

_**A/N** : I'm taking several liberties with the judicial system here in the states (though some is accurate as well,) but screw the rules! I have plot!_

* * *

 **Chapter 6 - The Trail**

* * *

Kim filed out of the hospital in a new dark pants suit, her first taste of direct sunlight marred only by an overcast sky, Hank's hand at the small of her back.

Immediately, three dozen flashes and the constant glare of TV cameras blinded her. Reporters on all sides shouted questions, but all Kim could seem to make out was her name. She tried to sound them out, but only managed it once the squad car door shut on her, after Hank clambered inside.

"Good golly!" he said. "That was quite the crowd, wasn't it?"

Kim weakly smiled. She turned to look at the cameras again and instantly regretted it as several flashes went off at once. Finally, mercifully, the car lurched underneath her and pulled away from the hospital, two other squad cars in tow.

"Did you see my parents out there?" Kim said, glancing back once again. The hospital had already disappeared behind the treeline that flanked the buildings.

"Can't say that I did," Hank said. "I was more focused on getting you to the car." He pulled his suitcase off the floor board and opened it. "Now remember, don't smile, but look confident, but not _too_ confident. We don't want to give the jury any reason to think you're guilty."

"Hank," Kim said, looking at her hands, "it's great and all that you want to help me, but can we really win this? Can you really win this case for me?"

"Of course!" Hank said. "Didn't your parents tell you what my win ratio is?"

Kim blinked. "I haven't actually talked to them since I got arrested the second time."

"Oh," Hank said. He seemed to think about this for a bit, then, "Well, it's 100 percent. I've won every case I've represented. It's why your parents hired me."

The car bumped over a pothole, and that was the only thing that brought Kim to her senses. "Wait, really? How? I mean - how many cases have you represented?"

"Almost two dozen," Hank said, puffing out his chest. "Some of my clients did plead guilty to some charges, but anything we've pled not-guilty to, we've won."

"That's amazing."

"Why thank you!"

"So you really think we have a chance?"

"Oh, without a doubt!"

Kim grinned for the first time in a week, and her heart felt ten times lighter. She couldn't help but bounce in her seat with new energy.

Hank put a hand on her shoulder. "We're approaching the courthouse. Time for that unsmiling determination."

Kim nodded, suddenly nervous again. The car slowed and came to a stop in front of the courthouse steps. She turned to face the door with as much bravado as she could muster and hoped that she had the right expression.

The courthouse itself, much like the rest of the new, Umbra-backed Middleton buildings, was a dull gray. A throng of reporters lined the steps, flashes bursting in a rapid tap dance. Beside these lay half the marble lion that once guarded the entrance, the side of its face smashed into powder.

An officer came up to her door and opened it for her, letting both her and Hank out, into the crowd. The buzz of questions almost drowned out the one voice she wanted to hear.

"KP!"

"Ron!"

He jumped and poked his head over the crowd, then scrambled onto the steps. Two officers started pushing through the crowd towards him. She would only have a few seconds.

"Where's Mom and Dad?" she shouted over the crowd.

"Inside," Ron shouted back.

The officers got closer and Hank pulled her constantly towards the door.

"Ron, thank you! I-"

The doors shut behind her and Ron disappeared before she could finish.

Kim slumped, but with a squeeze from Hank, she drew herself back up just before entering the courtroom's double doors. The way to the courtroom had been plain and drab concrete with a single throw rug in the hall, but the insides of the courthouse were all wood paneling and lacquered benches.

All heads turned to look at her. Kim spotted her mother's red hair right away, Kim's father beside her. Kim started to smile, then thought better of it, instead focusing on holding her head high.

They took their seats in the front along a long table, and almost immediately, the bailiff told them all to rise.

Their judge waddled out from a rear door. He was a squat, weathered looking man with huge bushy eyebrows that covered the slits of his tired old eyes. He wore the traditional robes of a judge, but he was so short that the hems of his trousers trailed along the ground behind him.

He appeared no less intimidating for it once he had taken his seat, however. "Court is now in session for the case of The United States vs Kimberly Ann Possible. Be seated."

Just hearing the trial name made Kim's heart feel like it was hammering against itself just to pump blood through her system.

"Kimberly Ann Possible," the judge said, and Kim's heart thrummed in her chest, "you have been charged with terrorism, reckless endangerment, conspiracy, and attempted murder. For the court record, how do you plead?"

Kim breathed a sigh of relief. _Attempted_ murder. In the whirlwind of chaos she spent with Hank preparing for the case, she had never thought to ask him. Wiping her face to a state of calm, she said, "Not guilty."

"Very well. Opening statement, Mr. Monroe?"

To Kim's right, across the courtroom, the prosecution started to rise. An older, salt-and-pepper haired gentleman smoothed the front of his sleek black suit and tapped a matching cane. He had a square jaw and hawk-like eyes. He glanced at Kim, smiled, and turned to the jury box.

With a start, Kim realized that several people in the jury box were people who had asked her for help around Middleton.

"People of the jury," Salt-and-Pepper Monroe said, "today is a hard time for you all, I am sure. I too am shocked that Middleton's own Kim Possible is here today. However, I intend to prove, through concrete evidence, eyewitness testimony, and forensic evidence found at the scene of the crime, that Kim Possible was not only was there that unfortunate night, but committed every crime she is accused of."

The jury seemed unmoved, and merely stared back at him. This didn't seem to perturb Monroe, however, and he went back to take his seat next to a young man who Kim could only guess was his assistant.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Jury," Hank said, now rising, "I'm sure you're all wondering how Kim Possible could even be accused of such a crime." He laughed. "It certainly is quite the doozey, isn't it?"

The judge groaned. "Mr. Perkins..."

"Yes, yes," Hank said. "Well, I'm going to show you just how wrong the prosecution is by using simple logic and basic evidence and precedent. Kim Possible simply can't be guilty of the crimes she is charged with."

Hank beamed at the jury, who only stared icily back, just as they had with Monroe. Hank faltered only a moment, then took a small bow and reseated himself.

"Your witness, Mr. -"

"Your honor," Hank said, with a wink towards Kim. "I'd like to make a motion to dismiss this case and all charges."

The judge's bushy brows clumped together, like two fuzzy caterpillars. "On what grounds?"

"Under the Hero Act of 2001," Hank said, "any hero acting against any villain or supervillain threat is allowed extreme latitude in how they combat that threat."

Silence filled the courtroom for a moment. When the judge spoke, it was slowly and with no small amount of exasperation. "Mr. Perkins, the Hero Act only applies in the cases of recognized villains. As the only person the defendant could be acting against is Norana Umbra, your motion has no merit, and I must deny it."

"But -"

"Motion denied, Mr. Perkins!" He banged his gavel. "Now let's get on with the case. Your witness, Mr. Monroe."

Hank sat down and muttered a little "oh dear."

Kim grimaced. "Hank? What's wrong? We still got this, right? How'd you win all your other cases?"

"Er, yes, well... I actually won those by simply showing a statement of their pardon, haha haaa..."

Something icy swept through Kim's veins. "But you have a backup plan, right? You've... you've done this before... right?"

Hank's quickly paling face told Kim her answer, but her attention was soon refocused as the first witness turned out to be Norana Umbra herself.

Kim stared, wide-eyed, as Umbra was sworn in and took her seat in the witness box, calm as a still pond.

"Miss Umbra, thank you for being with us today," Monroe said. "To start, please tell us your relationship with Miss Possible."

Umbra raised her jaw and stared at Kim with a frigid glare. "Miss Possible and I are recently acquainted. I'm afraid I haven't had many personal dealings with her as I've been trying to avoid her."

Monroe bounced once on the balls of his feet. "And why is that?"

"Because she made threats to me."

Kim stood straight up, knocking her chair back. "WHAT?! I have not! Your honor -!"

His honor was, however, hearing none of it and banged away with his gavel. "The defendant will be _silent_! Mr. Perkins, control your client!"

Hank grabbed her shoulders, paler than ever, and eased her back into her chair. "Miss Possible! Please."

Slowly, Kim sat back again, but every muscle twitched as she tried to keep herself still. She wanted to run down the hall or jump onto the table or just do anything else but simply sit there, quiet and still. Her lips pressed together in a tight pout. She crossed her arms and stared daggers at anyone who glanced at her.

Monroe coughed. "You were saying, Miss Umbra? When did Possible threaten you"

"At Middleton Community College, the day I announced my acquisition of the college."

"And just what did Miss Possible say? Why did she threaten you?"

Umbra looked at Kim as she spoke. Kim glared back.

"She seemed upset," Umbra said. "She seemed to take my buyout of the college and other properties as a personal affront. She called me a 'supervillain' and that she'd... 'stop me.'" Umbra shivered and looked away from Kim.

Kim leaned her head into Hank's ear. "That's not true! I never said anything like that!"

Hank patted her hand, and after Kim's outburst, he seemed to have regained some of his color and confidence. "We'll get her, wait and see."

Kim looked at him dubiously, but turned back to the front when Monroe asked his next question.

"And what did you do then?"

"I avoided her. She chased me down at every opportunity, going to every speech, every dinner, every event that involved myself and the school."

"Your honor," Monroe said, "I enter into evidence signed statements confirming Miss Umbra's story as stated here today. Signed here are upstanding members of the community, including deans, professors, professionals, and construction workers. They confirm that Kim was nearly constantly sighted at any event even remotely connected to Miss Umbra, but not at any other functions. At these times, she was seen trying to chase after Umbra wherever she might appear."

Kim stared, open-mouthed. They were implying she was harassing Umbra. Her brain stuck and jammed, unable to think past a growing sense of panic.

"Thank you, Mr. Monroe," the judge said. "Will that be all?"

"Yes, your honor."

"Your witness, Mr. Perkins."

Hank gave Kim a little half smile, and started towards the witness stand, only to jerk to a stop and twist around to thumb through the paperwork in his briefcase.

"Mr. Perkins..."

"Oh, yes, be right - ah, here we are!" He cleared his throat into his fist, only to choke and end up coughing for several moments. "I'm alright. Ah. Now, Miss Umbra- ah! Aha!" He pulled a sheet of paper from his stack and smacked it with the back of his hand. "Miss Umbra, you say that Kim Possible was combative during your talk?"

"She seemed agitated, yes," Umbra said.

"Your honor, I have here a transcript from an associate of Kim Possible's, taken from an audio recording during the talk in question."

The judge looked through his own papers. "I'm not seeing that on the evidence list."

Behind Hank, still at his table, Monroe stood up. "I might be able to shed some light on this matter," he said. "The evidence in question was deemed inadmissible due to privacy laws in the state requiring both parties to consent to a recording. Miss Umbra was unaware of any such recording."

The judge sighed, put his face in his hand, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Please strike all mention of the recording from the record. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you are to ignore anything said about this recording for the purposes of your verdict. Mr. Perkins," and to this, Hank shrunk back, "you will refrain from bringing up inadmissible evidence or I will have you held in contempt. Am I clear?"

"Y-yes, your honor," Hank said. "Very clear. No further questions."

Umbra stepped down, but the next witness threw Kim for even more of a loop.

"I call Doctor Drew Lipsky to the stand."

Murmurs rippled throughout the courtroom as the blue former villain was brought into the courtroom. The judge gave a single bang of his gavel to bring the room to silence, and Dr. Drakken was sworn in.

"Dr. Lipsky," Monroe said, "you worked for years as a supervillain, but have since been pardoned. Is that correct?"

Dr. Drakken looked decidedly uncomfortable with the question and twiddled his fingers on the barrister. "Emmmm, that's correct."

"What is it you do now?"

"I can't tell you."

Monroe started, closed his eyes for a moment, then continued. "What do you mean?"

"It's top secret," Dr. Drakken said. "Don't you know what top secret _means_?"

"Er, yes, Dr. Lipsky, but -"

"And stop calling me that! My _name_ is Dr. Drakken."

Monroe sighed. "Your honor?"

The judge waved. "Let the record show that Doctor Drakken officially refers to Doctor Drew Lipsky."

"Now then," Monroe said, tightening his tie, "without revealing any government secrets, can you tell us what it is you do in a more general sense?"

"I... work for the gof-mmm-erm," he said, his words trailing into quiet mutters.

"I'm sorry?"

Drakken grappled with the witness stand. "I work for the government!" He gasped. "There! I said it. Are you happy now? My whole reputation. Ruined."

The judge banged his gravel. "Witness! Restrain yourself. Monroe, get on with your point."

"Right," Monroe said as Drakken wept into his sleeve. "Dr. Drakken, what was your relationship with Miss Possible during your villainous career?"

"Kim Possible? We didn't have a relationship! _She_ was my nemesis! A thorn in my side!"

"So Kim Possible stopped your plans for world conquest."

"Yes!" Drakken gasped and broke into sobs again. "So many times. So. Many. Times."

Monroe grimaced at the jury, but then turned back to Drakken. "Just how did she stop your plans, Dr. Drakken?"

Drakken looked up. "I don't know. Usually with those cheerleader flips of hers."

"Yes," Monroe said, obviously getting impatient. "And what happened to your labs? Your, er, 'lairs?'"

"She blew them up!" Drakken said. "She destroyed them! She -"

"No further questions, your honor." Monroe now wore a wide grin and sat back down at his table while Drakken looked decidedly confused.

"What?" Drakken said. "Done already? I haven't even gotten to the good parts! Don't you want to know about my doom rays?"

The judge sighed. "Mr. Perkins."

"Ah, yes!" Hank stood and strode over to Drakken. "Dr. Drakken -"

"You!" Drakken said. "I remember you, weren't you the -"

"Er, yes, right!" Hank said, tapping his fingers along the banister. "We met when I needed to represent you for a case, hahaha!"

"But-"

"Dr. Drakken!" Hank said. "Er, would you say that Kim intentionally did this?"

"Did what?"

"Why, blow up your lairs, of course!"

"Yes! My poor doom rays. You don't understand-"

"I... I do understand, Dr. Drakken. Er, but surely she must have done this on accident -

"Objection, your honor!" Monroe said. "Witness is not an expert in this matter."

"Sustained. Mr. Monroe..."

"No further questions, your honor."

Hank returned to Kim, slumped onto the desk, and seemed to sob.

On and on it went. More witnesses came in. Police to give testimony to Kim's troublesome habits. A psychological expert to discuss her doubts over Kim's mental state given that she was a teenager wanting to play at being a hero. Even Mr. Barkin came in, but he was far more tight lipped than Kim would have expected.

The last witness from the prosecution came in, the guard from the video Umbra had shown, Billy Clearwater. He practically jabbed his skinny fingers at Kim when he was asked who attacked him.

Finally, after mounting evidence that included forensic evidence and ambulance paramedic statements that Kim was at the factory that night, worker testimony, and her mother's acknowledgment she didn't know where Kim was at the time of the explosion, it was Hank's turn to call witnesses.

Hank first called Wade Lode to the stand, but he was barred from testifying due to his age. Next was Ron, but after a few questions regarding Kim's character, he stepped off the witness stand without so much as being asked a question by the prosecution.

Hank stood up and shuffled some papers around. "I call Kim Possible to the witness stand."

Kim started, then stood on shaky legs. She eventually made it to the witness stand without falling on her face.

"State your name for the record please," Hank said, beaming at the jury.

"Uh, Kim Possible."

"I'll keep my questions brief, Kim," Hank said. "How long have you been heroing around?"

"I guess I've had my website up since I was in middle school."

"And in that time, how many crimes did you commit?"

"Uh, none?"

"Let me ask you this, then, Kim," Hank said, "did you go out to Norana's factory that night?"

Kim looked from Hank to the jury to Monroe. Her throat was dry and she tried to swallow.

"Yes," she said.

Hank stared at her. He blinked. "You're not... you're suppose to - ahem! But surely you knew you weren't supposed go out due to your bail terms..."

"I... I did," Kim said.

"So you obeyed, of course?"

"... no."

The crowd murmured for a moment before being silenced by a bang from the judge's gavel.

Hark was covered in sweat. "I... Kim can you... I - you didn't _suspect_ Norana of anything, did you?"

Kim shrunk down in her seat.

"Answer the question, witness," the judge said.

"I-I withdraw it, your honor!" Hank said. "No... further questions."

"Very well," the judge said as Hank took his seat. "Prosecution, your cross-examination, please."

Monroe just laughed and spread his hands. "I have no questions for this witness, your honor."

"Witness, you may step down. Is that your last witness, Mr. Perkins?"

"What?" Hank said, glancing up and looking startled. "Oh, er, yes. Yes. The defense rests."

"Very well. Closing statements please."

Monroe got up to deliver his last lines, but Kim didn't hear him, nor Hank when he gave his. Nor did she pay attention when the jury left the room. All she could think about was that all the evidence pointed at her having done the crime. Hank had tried to put up a defense, but it was buffeted and torn apart at every step.

Kim's legs went numb, her breathing shallow. The lines of the wood desk in front of her became the roads on which she went to jail. The specks of black became her fellow prisoners. Her head swirled. She couldn't think.

It seemed as if she waited like that for days, but finally, the jury strode out of the doors to the deliberation room and back into their stands.

"Has the jury reached a unanimous verdict?"

A woman with just graying brown hair in a ponytail and large half-moon glasses stood up. With a start, Kim realized it was Mrs. Mahoney, the woman who had given Kim her first ride ever as payment for saving her cat.

"We have, your honor. We have a statement accompanying it."

"... I'll allow it."

Mrs Mahoney coughed into her fist and read from a sheet of paper.

"We, the jury, find the defendant, in the charges of terrorism, conspiracy, and attempted murder: not guilty."

Kim breathed a sigh of relief and Hank seemed to melt into his chair, letting out a breath.

"However," Mrs. Mahoney said, "we find the accused guilty of felony reckless endangerment. We found the evidence to be incomplete regarding the other charges, but there can be no doubt that Kim Possible violated her bail terms and put a great number of people at risk with her actions. We are all very disappointed in such a previously upstanding member of our community, and leave the sentence up to the judge."

Mrs. Mahoney bit her lip, tears in her eyes as she looked at Kim, who looked back at her with blank shock.

The judge took in a deep breath and exhaled. "Very well. Kimberly Ann Possible, you have been found guilty of felony reckless endangerment and have been proven in a court of law to be a danger to yourself and those around you. I am left with no choice but to sentence you to 3 years in the Lowerton Correctional Facility, to be commenced immediately." He banged his gavel. "Case dismissed."

* * *

 _ **A/N** : __I've reached a point where I'm burning out a little after working on this for two months while also working on my other writing, so Limited Palette will not update next week. Just to give me a small break. Limited Palette should be back the following week._

 _While we're waiting, why not review if you haven't yet, or go back and review chapters you missed? Let me know your thoughts in the box below. :)_


	7. Prison

**Chapter 7 Prison**

* * *

Immediately after the trial, Kim had been lead away by two armed guards, past the crowd in the benches, past the double doors of the courthouse, past the flashes of cameras and squawk of questions... and past Ron who tried valiantly to push his way through the mob, yelling Kim's name.

The officer pushed her head into the back of the squad car when Kim tried to look up and slammed the door behind her. Kim watched as the crowd tossed Ron back and forth, barely letting him advance an inch. Then the car pulled away, and Ron and the rest of the crowd disappeared behind the impartial wall of the courthouse.

Kim's cuffs dug into her wrists, but she tried to settle in the seat and calm her nerves. But where she thought she'd find frayed nerves or panic, there was... nothing. She simply felt nothing about what was happening. She tried to think, to cry, to feel, to care, but nothing came. No tears. No pain. Her whole world suddenly became the back of a worn out squad car.

She felt, perhaps, that this wasn't ideal and maybe expanding her awareness of her surroundings would help. Through the window, buildings, rubble, and the occasional Lowardian walker passed in a blur of activity. None of it helped her get a handle on her current situation. A prisoner. So she just sat and watched the world go by.

After a long while, but what seemed just a moment, the prison came into view. It was a long and flat brownstone building, surrounded by chain link fencing topped with barbed wire and sat in the middle of a forest just outside Lowerton. Their car pulled up to a checkpoint, and eventually pulled up to the front.

Time seemed to pass in a blur. The staff processed her through intake fairly quickly. She barely noticed when they had her strip searched and gave her a set of orange clothes. She simply obeyed when she was told to do something. What else was she supposed to do?

That first day, she didn't process much of anything else. The next, she had fallen asleep in a common room seat, only to be woken by a large, angry woman and her three friends.

They were criminals Kim had brought in herself.

A brief fight and they ran from the room in squeals of pain. Kim went to her cell and went back to sleep, but the following days didn't fare her any better. Fight after fight, she was cornered in the showers, in the halls, or in her bunk. Robbers or henchwomen or other violent types that were more than willing to try and put Kim Possible in her place.

It seemed half the population of the prison had something against her. And each time, the fights grew bigger, the people tougher or smarter. Word was getting around that Kim was putting women down left and right and getting away without a scratch.

It wasn't quite true, though. An inmate had caught her in the eye the other day, and another busted her lip open. Her arms and fists ached from throwing and blocking punches, her sides hurt when she walked, and still they attacked her. Only one time did a guard actually stop one of the fights, and for the trouble, put Kim in solitary for a day. With the bright light constantly overhead, she barely got any sleep.

A guard released her the following morning, and she left for her daily routine. It was a week after her initial incarceration, and prison, Kim decided, did not suit her at all.

She stood in the middle of an empty, patchy field of grass during yard time, gazing up at the blue sky over the treetops. Tall chain-link fencing surrounded the area, and the other prisoners walked along it, giving Kim a wide birth. They were mostly the smaller or non-violent women who thought Kim as violent as the current rumors made it seem. The weathered brownstone prison stood over a hundred feet behind her.

Kim laid down in the grass, and while it wasn't as thickly grown as the college's, she mused that she, at least, still had this small privilege.

"On your feet, inmate."

Kim glanced up. A skinny mustached guard stood over her, indifferent. Kim groaned and pushed herself to a standing position.

The prison guard, in a light blue button up, looked her up and down before nodding. "Stay on your feet or go sit at a bench. Don't make me tell you again."

"Yes sir," Kim said with a roll of her eyes.

"What's that, inmate?"

"I said, yes sir," she said with a bit more sincerity.

He glared, but a fight had broken out near the doors, two inmates pulling each other's hair and trying to wrestle each other to the ground. He glanced at Kim and then spoke into a radio as he jogged over to the fight.

Kim wanly smiled at her luck and turned to walk further into a field. However, a woman who seemed nearly twice her height blocked her path and cast a long shadow over Kim. Big B.

"Uh, hi Big B," Kim said.

"You're Kim Possible, huh?" the woman said, scratching her chin.

Kim knew what was coming, and there would be no avoiding this fight. She groaned; her knuckles still hurt from yesterday. "That's the rumor." She started looking for bruises or cuts she could exploit to end the coming fight more quickly.

"Hear you have a problem 'round here," Big B said. "You don't given anyone here no respect, no -"

Kim waved a hand, craning her neck to look at Big Big's arms. "Yeah, yeah. Look, if it's all the same to you, can we just get on with this?"

The woman grimaced. "I'm going to enjoy breaking your mouth, girl."

Kim ducked under the swing and backpedaled out of reach. She got ready to lunge, but as fast as the fight had begun, Big B's eyes became dazed, her mouth slack.

She toppled over and behind her was a woman with a glowing green hand.

"Hey cupcake. Miss me?"

Kim stared, her mouth hanging open.

Shego smirked and waved a hand in front of Kim's face. "Earth to Kimmie."

"Shego?"

"In the flesh." She gestured down to her orange jumpsuit, messily laid over her normal green and black suit.

The sight didn't make Kim feel any better. "What are you doing here?"

"Enjoying the sights," Shego said sardonically. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm busting you out of here."

"Busting me..." Kim laughed, actually laughed. It was the first time in weeks, and it lifted some of the weight off her shoulders.

"Hey, keep it down or the guards are gonna notice," Shego said. "I paid those two girls to cause a ruckus, but it won't keep their attention for long if you go clucking around the yard like a turkey."

"I do not - wait." Kim glanced back the women still biting, clawing, and pulling at each other. Guards tried to close in, but the crowd around the fight kept them out.

Kim pointed. "You did that? You made them fight?"

Shego shrugged and spread her hands. "I needed a distraction and imprisoned henchwomen come cheap."

Kim turned around. "Guar-mmm!"

Shego came up behind Kim and pressed a hand to her mouth, holding her tight.

"Remember what I said about quiet?"

Kim grabbed the arm holding her head and flipped Shego over, slamming her onto her back. Kim dropped a knee to her chest, but Shego just rolled out of the way before it struck.

"Calm down!" Shego said, springing to her feet and holding up her hands, out of reach. "I just came to ask for your help."

"My help? You're the reason I'm in here!"

Kim charged her, but Shego grabbed Kim and they fell to the ground, Shego pinning Kim to the dirt.

"Norana Umbra is the reason you're in here! Not me!"

"Says the one who helped her!"

They struggled. Kim smelt crushed grass and burnt soil underneath her. The heat from Shego's fists seared into her skin, and rocks jabbed at her legs.

This time, Kim managed to pin Shego to the ground.

"Alright, so I helped her!" Shego said. "She came to me with a plan, I liked it, and I helped her do it. I'm evil, Kimmie, it's what I do."

"What was her plan, Shego?"

Underneath her, Shego grinned. "Help me and I'll tell you everything."

Kim yelled, and raised her fist, but Shego kicked out, sending Kim flying.

"Kimmie, we don't have a lot of time, if you haven't noticed."

A quick sideways glanced confirmed; the fight was broken up, and guards were talking into radios. An alarm klaxon started. The other prisoners got on the ground with their arms and legs spread.

Kim shakily got to her feet.

"Aren't you going to get on the ground?" Shego said, singsong.

Kim growled. She didn't want to get in even more trouble, but there was no way she would go prone with Shego still so near. "Why did you come here? What possible reason did you have to think I would actually work with you?"

Shego looked at her, hand on her hip, as guards started approaching.

"Queenie wasn't supposed to frame me too," Shego said. "I want revenge."

"Fine," Kim said. "Go get it. I'm not helping you."

The guards were dangerously close now. Kim waited for the one nearest her to wrestle her to the ground, but before he could get close enough, Shego blasted him back into the chain fencing with a stream of plasma. Another pair tried to take Shego herself down and met similar ends.

"Okay, how about this?" Shego said. "You stay in here, I go about my merry villain ways and try to get revenge. Meanwhile, Queen Uptight gets to go scot-free for her crimes, all while causing more and more havoc. And trust me, her plans make this seem like a kindergarten picnic. Sound like fun, pumpkin?"

Kim crossed her arms. "I have no reason to believe you, Shego."

"Oh?" Shego said. "Or maybe you didn't notice the video she forged of you planting explosives or the setup we made for you at the warehouse. You really think she went through all that just to get you in here?"

Kim's brain skipped a note as she considered. Since getting in prison, she had thought about nearly nothing else but the evidence against her, but she had assumed that getting Kim into prison would be the end of Umbra's plan. Shego seemed to be implying that this was just the start...

"I still don't believe you," Kim said. "You can just get revenge on your own. You don't need me. This is just another plot to make me look bad."

Shego growled in frustration. Distantly, a helicopter sounded, slowly growing louder. Shego glanced in the direction of it, then stomped straight towards Kim. Kim stood her ground, letting Shego get right in her face.

"We don't have time for this! We've fought together before just fine, and if you haven't noticed, I'm being hunted too!" She growled, her fists shaking, then combed her hands through her hair as she tried to calm down. "Look, I can't... I can't do it alone, alright? I've tried. Umbra's too... good, too well protected. I need... I can't believe- I need help. Alright?"

Kim stared her straight in the eye, passive. She swallowed, and suddenly, the helicopter came over the treeline.

"Kimmie!"

Kim remained motionless, unmoved.

Wind surged downward from the helicopter overhead. "SHEGO," a blare horn said. "STAND DOWN, OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO TAKE ACTION."

"Damnit." Shego leaped back from Kim and lobbed two plasma bolts at the chopper, but both went wide. They did give her just enough time to fire a hot blast at the fence. It exploded on contact and made a giant gap in the fencing. Shego took one last look at Kim, gave her a long look, and took off running. Kim watched her go.

Overhead, the helicopter opened fire with some kind of laser weapon, the blasts trailing Shego as she ran towards, and into, the woods surrounding the prison. They hit trees, splintering the wood with a violent crack, making their way deeper into the forest, apparently following Shego.

Behind her, more guards ran up from the building. Kim let them come, still watching the helicopter fire into the forest, the cracking of trees growing more and more quiet.

She felt the ground tremor as guards came up and tackled her to the ground, and all Kim could think about was, if Shego really wasn't lying, then she was letting Umbra get away with who knows what, and there was no one else to stop her.

If Shego wasn't lying.

A cuff closed around one of her wrists and Kim whirled around, her fist catching the guard in the jaw. He collapsed forward, on top of her. She pushed him off just as the other guard was reaching for his radio. She leaped up, and kicked his hand against his shoulder, crushing his fingers against her heel. A roundhouse to another guard's chest sent him flying into the fence, dispatching the last of the guards.

She ran. She leaped over the smoking remains of the fence, diving into the embrace of the surrounding trees, and kept pushing forward.

She tried to keep her bearings as she made her way through, following the path of broken trees, Shego sure to be not far behind.

Tree bark cut into her bare hands and outreaching branches scratched at her face and arms. Her sore feet launched her from root, to rock, to muddy puddle, and she ignored them all. The scent of pine and dew filled her nose, while the droplets soaked through her hair and plastered it to her face and neck.

"Shego!" she called out. "Shego!"

Suddenly, the broken and shattered trees from the gunfire stopped cold. Kim kept running, and a sudden sense of panic rose in her heart. She was running away from prison, and if she was caught, she would probably stay for a very long time. She'd soon have all kinds of law enforcement on her tail, and she had no idea how to evade them. Shego was her only hope.

"Shego!"

As soon as she said it, she broke out into a clearing and skidded to a halt just before a steep drop to another clearing below. Near the far treeline sat Drakken's hovercraft, and just in front of it, Shego, on the ground and surrounded by four armed SWAT officers. The helicopter still flew overhead, ropes leading down from it.

Kim hunched down and crept to the side, where the bank led down. None of the officers, nor the helicopter, seemed to have noticed her yet. She tried not to make a sound and strained her ears over the beating of the helicopter blades.

"Bagged and tagged, sir."

"Get her bound and in a sling. Let's get her locked up."

Shego groaned, and all four officers pointed their rifles at her.

Kim knew an opportunity when she saw it and, without thinking about it, leaped out, roundhousing one, and punching the teeth out of another. The other two raised their weapons, but Kim put one between herself and the other, and twisted his rifle out of his hands, slamming the butt into the side of his helmeted head. Helmet or no, he went down.

The other officer fired off a shot just as Kim ducked, expecting it. She dove forward and jammed her palm into the underside of his chin, and he, too, crumpled.

The first officer stirred, and Kim slammed the rifle into his gut as hard as she could and ran towards Shego, tossing the rifle away.

"Shego! Shego, come on! I don't know how to fly this thing."

Shego stirred but didn't wake up. Kim reached down, hoisted one of Shego's arms over her shoulders, and dragged her body towards the craft. She found a button to lower a ramp, then dragged Shego up. Once aboard, she set Shego down on the floor and took a look at the controls. It didn't seem too complicated. She was sure she could figure it out.

"AUTO-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATED."

"WHY IS THERE ALWAYS AN AUTO-DESTRUCT?!"

"... Kimmie?"

From the floor of the craft, Shego held her head and groaned.

"Shego! I don't know what I'm doing and I just hit a button and I need your help to get out of here!"

Beside the hovercraft, one of the guards started to stir. The copter overhead still circled; Kim hoped the overhanging vegetation was enough to hide them.

"Hit the red button," Shego said.

Kim did.

"AUTO-DESTRUCT... CANCELED."

"This is really way too easy to do," Kim said.

"Welcome to my life." Shego groaned and grabbed the side of hovercraft to haul herself up. Kim bent to help her, but Shego flared plasma and Kim backed off.

Once on her feet, she started flipping dials. The craft hummed to life.

"Hold on," Shego said.

"To what?!"

Kim was thrown to the floor as the craft lurched upward, barely missing the helicopter that swerved to get further away. Shego worked the controls and they shot off.

"... they're not going anywhere!" Kim said when the helicopter was keeping up with them.

"This isn't a jet!" Shego said. "Hang on!"

"Again, to wha-" She didn't have time to finish as Shego sent them in a violent turn towards downtown Lowerton.

"Are you crazy?" Kim said. "We'll be seen!"

"Got to get some distance!"

The craft approached the skyscrapers, and Shego flew right between them, the copter not far behind. She slowed, letting the copter gain, then made a hard right down a narrow road.

The copter was forced to fly past. The hovercraft flew low and fast through narrow alleyways until they ran out of alleyways and were forced to rise above the low buildings.

Behind them, the helicopter hovered over the skyline, still looking for them.

"They're gonna see us," Kim said.

"Doesn't matter," Shego said.

Sure enough, the helicopter turned to follow but soon disappeared behind a mountain. As soon as they were out of sight, Shego pressed a button, and the rocky face of a nearby cliff rose, revealing a steel-lined hanger. They flew through, and with another button press, the wall closed behind them. A moment after the wall shut, they heard the helicopter fly close, then fade into the distance.

Kim collapsed into the hovercraft's pod, her hand on her heart. She couldn't see Shego as, once the bay door closed, they were plunged into darkness.

Shego, however, lit up one of her hands and held it aloft.

"Kimmie," Shego said with a grin, "welcome to villainy."

* * *

Hey again. Not dead! :D ;P As always, reviews and comments appreciated by all. :)


	8. Face Turn

**Chapter 8 - Face Turn**

* * *

Kim pulled herself up, off the floor of the hovercraft. "I'm not a villain, Shego," she said, dusting her knees. But Shego had already started walking away, her hand the only source of light in the thick darkness.

Dust swirled in her wake. Kim hesitated, then sprang over the walls of the craft and paced just behind, at the edges of the light Shego's plasma provided.

Shego glanced over her shoulder and grinned. "I could be wrong, cupcake, but I think you just knocked out a few of the good guys back there."

Kim looked away, into the black, and pouted.

"Aww, don't be like that," Shego said. "I think it's great."

"It's not anything, Shego," Kim said. "I just have to clear... clear my..."

She stumbled. Clear her name. She was going to have to clear her name.

"H-uh."

Kim jerked her head up, but Shego didn't seem to notice Kim falter. In fact, Shego seemed entirely preoccupied with a panel on the wall next to a large steel door. The switch made several clicking sounds as Shego fiddled with it, but nothing else happened. Shego slammed her fist into the wall next to it. "Perfect."

"Problems?"

Shego started but quickly tried to hide it. "Faulty wiring."

Kim looked at the smooth painted stone of the wall and the shut steel door. "Just where are we, anyway?"

"Oh come on," Shego said. "This is a gimmie."

Shego walked over to the door and with a swipe of her plasma enveloped hand, melted the steel straight down the middle. Igniting her other hand, she grasped the doors molten edges and Began melting them away. Liquid metal pooled onto the floor, but there was quickly a hole big enough to walk through.

Extinguishing her hands, Shego grinned back at Kim again and swept a hand towards the darkness beyond the melted door. "Welcome to the Middleton backup lair, Kimmie."

Then Shego took a couple steps back and launched herself through the hole in a dive. She sprang up on the other side and flicked something on the wall. Red emergency lighting began to spring on, one row at a time in both rooms, quickly sweeping to the edges.

The room they landed inside was cavernous, like most of Drakken's lairs. Besides the hovercraft, however, it was nothing more than stone, steel doors, hanging lights, and dust. Kim sneezed.

"Come on in, Kimmie," Shego said. "And mind the edges."

Kim eyed the still red edges of the door. Kim took a step back and remembered how Shego had leaped, then mirrored the movement. She sailed cleanly through and landed in a slide.

Shego paid her little heed and instead, just lead the way deeper into the lair. At the end of the short hall was another cavernous room. This time, however, large machines and pieces of equipment were sewn everywhere, wires and tubes and cables connecting everything to everything else with no rhyme or reason, as if the lair had been abandoned half-built. A thick layer of fluffy dust covered the floor and machines. Even the walls, Kim could see in the dim red light, had a thin layer of dust clinging to them.

The entire level was dominated by a giant red machine, barely lit and enclosed with two half hoops of control boards, complete with a giant screen that reflected the light.

"... really?" Kim said. "Does Drakken ever make anything else besides weather machines?"

"They're a hobby."

"A hobby."

Shego shrugged. "Guy's got to have his passions."

Kim could just feel the headache this conversation would induce and let it drop. Instead, she followed Shego in, trailing dust. She glanced down; her clothes were ruined, torn and muddy from her escape and now caked in dust. Orange was never her color anyway.

"Why didn't he ever use it?" Kim said, stepping over another bundle of wires.

Shego tapped a few buttons at the control console, which hummed to life. "He was going to." She stood back from the console and spoke in a high-pitched voice. "'Inner mountain lair, Shego, it's perfect.'" She snorted and began typing again. "Please. Then the whole, 'let's conquer the world in a minute,' thing happened. Great whooptie-do at the UN later, and he gets his own lab. No lair."

Kim sneezed as she stepped up beside Shego, the typing having made several puffs of dust fly around in puffs of clouds. "Won't he... you know, realize we're here? Or tell the... government... that we're here?"

"Dunno," Shego said. "I doubt the moron even remembers this place. We're just here for supplies anyway. And... there." Shego slammed her finger on the enter key, and the lair's main lights sprang on.

Kim shut her eyes against the glare and only opened them - slowly - once they had stopped burning.

The lair was much as she expected. More machinery the emergency lighting didn't pick up, ceilings higher than were strictly practical, and a few doors along the far wall, away from the hanger door. Along another wall, several wooden crates sat stacked, some opened, others seemingly not. A few catwalks hung overhead, and Kim smiled as he remembered how often she used them as an entrance.

Her smile quickly disappeared as she also remembered that was when she was a hero. She had to settle this. She had to set Shego straight on where they stood.

"Shego, wait," she said.

Shego had already marched halfway to one of the far doors when Kim called. "I'm kinda busy. Take a message?"

"Shego," Kim said, walking up to her, "I'm not a villain."

Shego peered at her from the side of her head, between the cascade of dark tresses. "... whatever, fine. Miss Priss can't even think to lower herself to my level. I got it. We done here?"

"I'm not - I didn't mean it like that Shego."

Shego groaned in frustration and continued towards the door. Kim chased after her.

"Shego, I'm just trying to say that I'm not going to do anything to hurt anyone."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Shego! I didn't mean -" Kim started. "... that's not what's bothering you, is it? You're limping."

Shego froze, just in front of a door. "I don't limp," she said without turning around.

"I know," Kim said. "It took me kicking you into a radio tower before you got more than a scratch. What happened?"

Shego flared her plasma and half-turned to her. "None of your business, Kimmie." Then she pushed the door open and disappeared inside.

Kim hesitated a moment, considering, then plunged through the door. "Shego, you need help."

Shego, who was working off a boot, growled in frustration. "All I need from you is to help me take down Uber Priss. And to get out of my face."

Shego balanced herself against a wooden table that was far too large for the small room. Opposite the table, a fridge that wasn't even plugged in sat next to stark white cabinetry, and a single oven broke-up the counter tops.

Shego hoisted herself onto the dining table and tugged at her boot, wincing.

"Shego, let me help."

Shego growled in frustration. "Fine. Help then."

Kim stood a little straighter, walked forward and took a knee. The ankle was swollen, she knew that; the suit bulged around the ankle pouch and Kim could already smell wounded flesh. She undid the buckle of the pouch, letting it fall, and then slowly pried Shego's boot off.

The smell of sweat, blood, and week-old pus assailed Kim's nose. She almost immediately threw up, but stubbornly held her mouth shut, and dove for a steel bin in the corner.

"Oh, come on," Shego said behind her. "It's not that bad."

Kim retched again in reply. She stood over the bin a while longer, her stomach twisted and empty, until she finally wiped her mouth and walked to the sink to rinse her hands.

There was a scoff behind her. "Like you've never seen a wound before."

"I have," Kim said, still queasy, "but never one that infected. You've been running around fighting on that?"

Shego was quiet. Probably smoldering.

Kim turned and sure enough, Shego was glaring.

"Shego, it needs to be cleaned. You need antibiotics. You can't just keep it from healing by running around everywhere."

"I'll do whatever I want, princess."

"Not anymore."

Shego froze, and a very dangerous look overtook her features. Kim's veins went icy, but she stood her ground.

"What did you say?" Shego said.

"I said no." Kim crossed her arms. "You want my help? Then we're going to do this right. You're getting some bed rest, and I'm going to find you something for that wound."

"Umbra's not just going to wait around and -"

"Umbra's not going anywhere," Kim said, raising her voice over Shego's, "and neither are you. I'm not going to have somebody with an infected leg watching my back, and you shouldn't want that either. You want Umbra brought to justice as much as I do, right?"

"You could call it that," Shego said in a low growl.

"And that's another thing," Kim said. "We are not going to do anything more than find evidence against Umbra and bring her to the authorities. You wanted my help, Shego, so you're going to have to play by my rules."

Shego glowered at her from beneath dark locks of hair, windswept and caked with dirt. Kim glared back, her muscles tense, her fingers twitching.

Then, suddenly, Shego relaxed. She grinned. "Fine."

Kim blinked. "'Fine.'"

"What are you, a macaw? Yes, fine. We'll do things the goodie-goodie way."

Kim felt tenser than ever, but said, "fine," and turned to start rummaging through the cabinets. The first two were completely bare, and so were the second. Kim moved onto the third set.

"... what are you doing?" Shego said.

The third set was, of course, empty. "I'm trying to find something to clean your wound with."

Shego scoffed. "Right, like I'm going to let you clean it."

"You going to clean it yourself?" Kim said, opening a fourth, empty cabinet.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Shego said.

Kim considered. She opened another cabinet, forcing her movements. She could let Shego do it herself, but would she even do it right? Kim would have to watch, and that was even worse than just doing it herself.

"No dice, Shego," Kim said, trying to put some moxie in her voice. "You're going to let me do it so I know it's done right."

"What makes you -"

Kim turned again. "I've helped my mother in the emergency room more than a few times, and even once helped out with brain surgery. I know advanced first aid, along with a lot of other things, so you're going to let me do it or I'm leaving and you can fight Umbra to death on your own."

This time, Shego just ran a finger through her hair and laid back against the tabletop. "When this is over, you and I are having it out."

Kim grimaced. "That's just fine with me. Now where are the medical supplies."

Shego snorted. "Yeah, because Drakken is gonna have that."

For a long moment, Kim didn't quite understand what Shego was saying. Could she mean that Drakken had more advanced surgical supplies? Or perhaps he simply didn't keep track of it. But slowly, it dawned that Dr. Drakken simply didn't keep any medical supplies around.

"You're kidding," Kim said.

"'Fraid not," Shego said. "There might be something to use in the crates. I was hoping they were unpacked into the cabinets already..."

Kim groaned. "Wait here."

Shego just puffed. "Bossy little cupcake today."

Kim paid her no mind and left through the door.

Outside, in the main chamber of the lair, the air was still and the machines silent. Bright light burned down, spreading across the floor, but the air was cold.

Kim shivered and grabbed her arms. It was freaky being in a lair without Drakken shouting about a new scheme.

She padded along the wall, still in her prison shoes, until she reached the stack of crates. A crowbar laid across a corner of one of the boxes, and she used it to pry off a half-open lid. Inside sat a machine surrounded by a wood packing frame.

Kim sighed and pulled the lid back over, moving to the next crate. Another machine was contained inside. She opened two more crates before she finally found one packed with something besides one of Drakken's machines. She pulled and tossed a folding chair, bottles of lotion, a tanning light, a box of chocolate milk packets, and several rubber duckies. Near the bottom were two things she was looking for: a box marked "clothes" and another marked "kitchen."

She began to tear through the contents and set things aside as she found things she could use. A change of Shego's suit, an enormous bottle of vodka (for whatever reason,) a fairly sharp kitchen knife, some rags, a red henchmen suit she planned on ripping into pieces, and... Dr. D's Brain Washing Shampoo and Cranium Rinse.

"You've got to be kidding me." Kim sighed, hoisted the lot into a makeshift sack using the henchmen suit, and lead the way back to Shego.

"Took you long enough," Shego said, her leg hanging off the table. Below, a few drops of blood had splattered against the white tile.

Kim pulled her eyes away. "You try digging through all those crates by yourself."

Shego grumbled and propped herself on her elbows. "So what'd you find, Miss Priss?"

"Enough to hopefully clean it," Kim said. "It should be enough."

Kim set the sack on the counter and started setting things up.

Behind her, Shego scrambled on the table. "Whoa, hey, you're not using that shampoo on me!"

In Kim's hand was the brainwashing shampoo. She set it on the counter. "I'm not going to use it on your head. Just to wash the wound."

"No way," Shego said.

"Oh come on," Kim said. "It shouldn't work if it's not touching your head, right?"

"No. Way."

"But -"

"No." Shego flared both her hands, sinking them into the wood of the table. The smell of burnt wood filled the kitchen. "I still remember the last time that stuff got dumped on me around you. You're not using it. You'll just have to make do, got it?"

"... fine."

Kim quickly enough went to work draining and washing and bandaging the area. Kim stayed focused on the task and tried to banish everything else from her mind. Besides throwing up once more, she did this fairly well. While she worked, the only sound was the faucet's tiny drips of water, broken by the sound of Shego's tiny gasps.

Kim just started wrapping it in one of the henchmen suit strips of cloth when Shego finally spoke.

"Where'd you learn this?"

"What?" Kim said, without looking up.

"The play doctor thing."

Kim wrapped the strip a little too tight on the next pass.

"Ow! Watch it!"

"It's not a play doctor thing," Kim said, ignoring her but for a little smirk she hid with a tilt of her head. "Mom had me take basic first aid when I started doing missions. She had me do more advanced first aid after a few supervillains. I... I actually threw up more then."

Shego huffed but didn't say anything else, so Kim decided to ask what had been bothering her the entire time she had been working on Shego's leg.

"Shego... where did this wound come from?" Silence greeted her, and Kim kept wrapping. "It doesn't seem to be a cut. More like a burn, but I've never seen anything like it."

"Ha... I guess that's two of us," Shego said. "Look Kimmie, you want to know? I'll tell you tomorrow. You wanted us to get some sleep, didn't you? And you look about done."

This wasn't how she expected that question to go. Kim considered, but decided that the more pressing questions could wait at least a while. She nodded and tucked the end of the strip into the wrap. After testing the tightness, she stood.

For a long moment, Shego smoldered at Kim and Kim looked stonily back.

"There's a cot in the same crate you found this junk in," Shego said finally. "You can sleep on that."

And without another word, Shego swept from the kitchen, still limping, and left Kim alone.

* * *

 _A/N: Two things: 1, My beta is my girlfriend, who's busy and/or forgetful. So you get the raw chapters in the meantime, rather than making you wait. :P Hope you don't mind._

 _2, I'm a little iffy on this story. It was begun over two years ago. I'm not entirely sure it still jives with me? I'm finding my mind distracted in other directions, and I'm finding myself a little bored with Umbra as a villain. xD We'll see how this goes. In the meantime, I'm writing several scenes for another fic which will probably go up soonish (soonish, in this context, being in a month or two, maybe.) Something a bit less "new villain" and more "new situations" that I hope you'll all enjoy. :3_

 _See you next chapter!_


	9. Distractions

**Chapter 9 - Distractions**

* * *

At first, Kim wasn't sure it _was_ morning when she woke up. The base was completely encased in stone, so windows were very much off the decor menu. It took several nights before she adjusted and stopped trying to find a nonexistent sun.

This morning, her head felt like someone drove a rail through it. It wasn't like the company helped either.

"Hold still!" Kim said as she wrestled with Shego's injured leg.

"Like you're gonna hold still when someone is practically yanking your skin off!"

"I wouldn't be yanking if you held still!"

"Bite me, princess!"

It had been like this all week. The banter, the fights, (verbal, for the time being,) and treating Shego's injury. Kim had attended to her own minor injuries and they were healing well. She didn't offer to look after Shego's; she was more than capable of treating her own cuts and scrapes. But her leg wound was different. If it wasn't treated right, it'd just get worse.

In a way, Kim was thankful for the fighting; with everything going on, this served to distract her at least. Shego had refused to tell Kim what Umbra's full plan was unless they left to go on the hunt, but Kim steadfastly refused to leave the lair until Shego had healed.

When Kim had threatened to leave and turn herself back in if this was some kind of trap or trick, Shego let slip in a sing-song voice that there was some kind of weapon involved. When Shego threatened to go after Umbra herself, Kim agreed to leave in another week whether Shego was healed or not.

The next day, Kim nearly threw up again when she removed the bandage from Shego's leg. "It looks like it's getting infected."

"Wonderful."

Kim cleaned it and wrapped it in another torn up hench suit she had found in the crates. This wound was going to get a lot worse unless she did something about it.

"You need some antibiotics," Kim said. "And proper sterile bandages."

Shego waved her hand dismissively through the air. "I've told you; there's nothing like that here."

Kim tightened the bandage and finished the knot. "I know. I'm still wondering what did this to you. Have you ever been hurt like this before?"

Shego huffed and slid off the table to the floor. She winced when she put weight on her leg, but in the beating of an eyelash, she recovered like nothing had happened. "How about we talk about something else?"

Kim glared, stood, and went to the sink to wash her hands. They were in the small kitchen again, which had been serving as their impromptu med bay.

Couldn't hurt to try again. Shego had fed her tiny snippets every time she asked. "Fine. How about what this is all about, Shego?"

"You're going to have to a be a _little_ more specific, Princess."

"Umbra. What's her plan? You've said you know what it is more than once."

Shego took a couple steps towards the door and rolled her eyes.

"All you need to know," she said, "is that the Uber Priss has it out for you."

"Why?"

Shego shrugged.

"That's not good enough, Shego. I need more. I need to know what she's planning."

This time, Shego smirked, flashing her canines. "Sorry Princess, that's all you're getting from me today."

Kim grimaced and crossed her arms. "Fine. But I'm going into town today."

Shego, however, was halfway through the door into the main room. She threw a hand up, over her shoulder. "Already used that card, Princess. You can't pull the same trick twice."

"No," Kim said. "I mean, I'm going to go into town and coming back with medical supplies."

That stopped Shego in her tracks. She turned around, a look of dull shock on her face for the first time this week. "You can't be serious."

"I am."

"You'll be caught the _second_ you set foot in civilization. No way, princess."

Kim smiled wickedly. "So concerned for me all of a sudden."

Shego sneered and jabbed a thumb at her chest. "I'm _concerned_ for my revenge, you no-evil halfwit! _You_ should be concerned that if you get caught, Norana Umbra is free to go about her jolly little plan."

Kim crossed her arms and stood her ground. "You need medical supplies. That leg could get worse and then we'll have to amputate and _that_ would be even worse for our mission than me getting caught. I'd think you'd at least be concerned about _that_."

They stood there like that for a long while. Shego growled. Kim glared. But miraculously, Shego relented.

"Fine. It wouldn't do for my figure to be going around with a peg leg. Let's go."

"Oh no." Kim stepped forward and put a hand on Shego's shoulder when she had taken a step towards the hanger. "You're staying right where you are. I'll get the stuff myself."

Shego laughed. "And how, pray tell, do you think you're going to get it? Mm? What, you just going to walk into the nearest Poppa Pill and say, 'oh, hello. I'd like a prescription please. No, I'm not an internationally wanted villain at this point, why do you ask?'"

"Actually," Kim said, blushing, "I was planning on stealing it."

The effect of this on Shego was astounding. The woman looked more shocked than she had when Ron had defeated the Lowardians. She stood there, mouth open, mid-gesture, staring at Kim.

Amused, Kim smirked, reached out, and gently pushed Shego's jaw back into place.

"You're kidding."

"Nope."

"But you're like the _queen_ of good."

"I thought it was 'princess?'"

"There's no way -"

"Shego," Kim said, putting her hands on her hips, " _there's no way_ I can get this legitimately since there's no one I can ask for a prescription and no way to get anything otherwise without getting outside of the country. You need the supplies. I'll just think of it as... 'extended borrowing.' For the greater good."

Shego snorted. "Fine, but -"

"And I don't need you to do this. Besides, you're injured. I can do this fine on my own."

There's no way she could do this on her own.

Kim had convinced Shego that she could handle this. However, the hovercraft was far too conspicuous to take back into town, so Shego showed Kim a passage that lead off the hanger and down a mountain path towards Lowerton.

Kim scratched at her scalp. She donned a long blonde wig that went down past her knees. A pair of glasses and one of the smaller hench's civilian clothes later, (a blue plaid button-up and gray jeans,) Kim was trekking down the mountain, as well disguised as she could be.

There was little chance there wasn't a patrol around searching for her, so Kim skirted the path when she could, opting for the woodland. More than once, the slippery rocks almost sent her flying down into the gorge below. After one close call too many, she decided to risk the mountain path. Perhaps she needn't have bothered in the first place; contrary to her first assumption, she hadn't seen a single sign of human life since she started.

The sun was just beginning to rise behind her. The mountain would still be cloaked in shadow for several hours, but the ambient light still made it easier to spot her. Kim's nerves frayed a bit more with each new ray of light. By the time she was at the foot of the mountain, it was bright daylight and the city was still at least 3 miles away.

Maybe she should have waited until nightfall. It probably would have made this whole "thieving" thing a lot easier. Kim shook her head and kept to the wooded areas again, even once opting for a rough deer path, where the grass and undergrowth had been trampled down.

Despite her nerves, it had been quite the uneventful hike when she started reaching the edge of the surprisingly compact city. Kim recalled that the woodland might have been a preserve. All the better for her, rather than trying to transverse over farmland.

Now the more difficult part. Cars passed by on a nearby road, still several paces away, but no longer out of sight.

She drew in a breath. She just needed to relax and let things happen. Relax, walk naturally, and make her way to a pharmacy. No problem.

There was the small problem that she had no idea where a pharmacy might be. She could walk the major roads. Surely one would show up.

But one didn't show up. An hour of walking turned into two, and she was still no closer to finding what she was searching for. She had come to one of the major arteries of Lowerton, cars and people driving and walking by. Drastic times called for drastic measures.

"Excuse me," Kim said. "Could you help me?"

A teenager with a sparse goatee and black beanie looked up from his phone. "Uh, sure, I guess?"

"I think I'm a little lost. I was looking for the Poppa Pill around here. Do you know where it is?"

"Oh man," the kid said, "you're way off. The nearest Poppa Pill is, like, five miles away. There's a pharmacy in the Smarty Mart just down the street if that's all you need." He pointed back the way he'd came.

"Oh," Kim said. "Well... thanks. Then."

"For sure."

The kid turned back to his phone and continued his way down the street, past Kim.

"Right. You can do this. Just got to get there."

Kim decided to take the back alleys to the Smarty Mart. It might look a little more suspicious if anyone saw her, but fewer people _would_ actually see her.

It didn't take long to get there. Kim slipped around the Smarty Mart and through the garden section that didn't have as heavy traffic and made her way to the pharmacy section.

It was pretty dead inside, which might have been less fortunate than if it had been at least a little busy. As it was, all the techs inside were lazing about, talking to each other, or limply sorting through pills while glancing around for anything more interesting.

Kim waited awhile. Maybe expecting a deluge of people to distract the workers, or for the techs to become suddenly preoccupied with something else, but neither happened.

She had to get in there, find what she was looking for, and get out without being seen or she might as well turn herself back into prison right now.

That was when she noticed the time; it was almost noon. Lunch!

Kim smiled and left the pharmacy section. She didn't want to attract undue attention because she was loitering around for too long. Instead, she went back into the store and pretended to be interested in a particularly thick wrench. She kept the pharmacy in the corner of her eye but otherwise ignored it entirely. Then, a little before 12, she made her way back.

The techs looked up at first but ignored her once it was apparent she wasn't there for them. A few minutes passed.

"Hey, I'm going out for lunch."

Yes!

"Finally! Let's get some Cow 'n' Chow."

"Seriously? You always want Cow 'n' Chow."

"They have good fries. Sue me."

Kim watched out of the corner of her eye as some of the techs and a pharmacist filed out. They left only two people behind the counter. Not ideal, but it made it much easier.

Kim waited another couple minutes, in case someone had forgotten something or one of the other techs were going to leave, then waited to make her move. One tech, a blonde, was sitting at a desk with her back turned away, sorting meds. Another, a balding man, was taking the sorted meds and delivering them through the aisles.

As soon as he was in the farthest aisle, Kim took a running start, leapt over the barrier, and landed as quietly as she could on her hands and feet.

She immediately started sorting through the stock of meds. Unfortunately, she had jumped where the prescriptions were filled, so all she found were sacks of filled meds. This wasn't as bad as it might have sounded, however; surely the right one could be here. Kim started sorting through them, trying to find the right antibiotic.

Her heart hammered again and again in her chest. Was this what a heart attack felt like? Focus.

Antidepressants, pain meds (possibly useful?), sexual ai- never mind. One antibiotic, but not one that was designed for infected wounds. She kept searching. And there, in a bin near the bottom, was a full course of antibiotics just waiting to be picked up by a Martha Martaqitz. Perfect. Sorry Martha. Greater good and all that. She ripped the top and pushed the bottle into her pocket.

"Excuse me, what are you doing back here?"

Kim whirled. The blonde tech stood behind her, looking between confused and furious.

"Oh, hi! I'm Kim." Dangit! "I'm the new intern that was supposed to be in today?"

The woman's eyes narrowed. "We don't have an intern."

"I'm new," Kim said feebly.

"You know what? You wait right here. I'm just going to call the manager to figure out what's going on here."

"Oh," Kim said. "Alright."

The woman walked back to near her desk and picked up the phone. Kim, her heart thrashing in her chest, jumped back over the barrier counter and made her way towards the exits, forcing herself not to run.

"Hey, ma'am!"

Not you, Kim. There's plenty of other women around.

"Ma'am! Wait!"

Not you, not you, not you.

Then, there were two _very_ large men in front of her. One in a white polo with a small "Security" sewn into the front. The top of his head had a barely-there comber. Another, in civilian clothes, was a bit shorter, though still at least six feet tall. He had a face that, at first, looked kind, but after focusing, all Kim could think was that this was a man who loved what limited power he had.

"Where you goin'?" the shorter said.

"I'm... leaving?" Kim said.

"Nuh-uh," he said. "I saw you."

Her heart was so loud, she wouldn't be surprised if it ripped out of her chest and made a break for Mexico. "You... saw me?"

"What you have under that shirt, huh?"

For a moment, Kim was nonplussed. Her shirt? She supposed it did cover the bulge in her pocket...

The taller man spoke. "Look, we know you stole from the store."

"I saw you," the other said.

"I-"

"Don't," said the taller. "You wanna lift up your shirt?"

"What? No!"

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"What do you think I even stole?"

The two looked at each other.

"I saw you steal that wrench," the shorter said.

A wrench? Then this was...

All Kim's fear turned into anger. "I didn't steal any wrench!"

"Look," taller said, "we both know pretty girls like you don't wear baggy clothes like that unless they're trying to steal. Just give us the wrench and stop trying to drag this out."

"This is ridiculous! I didn't steal any wrench!"

"No, I saw you. I saw you!"

Kim groaned. She had to get out of here.

"Fine," taller said. He pulled out a cell phone and flipped it open. "We'll just call the police, then."

"... you know what? Fine," Kim said. "You and you," she pointed at them, "follow me and we'll sort this whole mess."

She stepped away from them, waited until she heard them try to catch up, and then spun around with an uppercut. She took down the shorter of the two, then followed with another to the taller before he could react. They were big and meant to look tough. To intimidate. To scare. They weren't fighters. They crumpled like wet paper.

Kim booked it. She tore out of the entrance, flipped past people, and ran into the alleyway, back towards the forest and the mountain beyond. She was only a few miles into the city - for she had tried to keep close to her escape - and it wouldn't take long to reach the tree-line if she kept up her pace. And her pure panic assured her of that.

She ran for half an hour. She never heard sirens, but kept low and out of sight whenever she could, taking alleyways and darting past roads in a pure sprint, or even leaping between two walls and jump over a narrow street from several feet in the air when a police cruiser rolled by.

She reached the forest and dove inside, not paying attention or trying to find a trail to follow. She ran. She barely made sure she was headed in the right direction.

When she reached the trail a bit past 1:00, she simply sprinted up the path, trying to retrace her steps towards the secret entrance. She circled around the same area for half an hour before she found it again. She lifted the rock Shego showed her, pressed the button underneath, and the door hidden in a rocky facade slide open.

Kim dove inside and slammed a fist on a button that closed the door behind her. As soon as it did, she collapsed on the floor and rested her back against the cool metal.

Sweat ran down her forehead and over her nose. Her arms were covered in scratches from the underbrush. In at least three places, blood smeared along on her forearms, and her clothes were frayed and dirty.

Good job, Kim. You've successfully beat up your clothing. She let her head fall back and closed her eyes. Deep breaths.

A faint voice reached her ears. "She's not here, so you might as well leave!"

Shego?

She heard another voice - _another_ voice - but couldn't make out any words. Carefully, Kim picked herself up and made her way towards them. They seemed to be coming from the main room.

Every muscle in her body ached. Her legs were hard and cramped. She let a hand brush the wall for support and made her way inward.

"There's no way I'm leaving without Kim!"

Kim stopped where she was. That was Ron's voice. She started towards the voice again, faster now.

"She's _not. Here_ ," Shego said.

"I know that's not true," Ron said. "She's here and I'm gonna find her."

"Please. Try it."

Kim hurried through the halls, trying not to bend the wrong way. Was it this hall? Or that one? Were there this many halls last time? But following the voices eventually lead her out into the weather machine's room, and she pushed her way inside, past the door.

In front of the machine stood Shego, hand on her hip, looking nonchalant. Opposite her, Ron stood, set in a Monkey stance.

The door behind Kim made a loud crack as it hit the wall. Shego and Ron whirled on her, Shego lighting up just a moment, then extinguishing her hands. She looked very annoyed.

"KP!" He turned on Shego. "I _knew_ she was here!"

"Whatever," Shego said. "So she's here. What's gonna do about it?"

Ron turned his full attention back on Shego. "Oh you're going to find out, Shego. You're going to find out. Whoa."

Kim was a little beside herself. Where Ron usually made Fax-monkey Jung FY Kata's when he started making noises, he now made perfect forms. She still wasn't used to it.

Shego, however, seemed as unimpressed as ever.

"Ron...," Kim said.

"Don't worry, KP, I got this!"

"Ron, wait."

He looked over. "What is it, KP?"

"You don't have to fight. Just... just let us go, alright? Pretend you didn't see us."

"I knew it!"

Kim blinked.

"I knew you'd been brainwashed! There was no other explanation!"

"Brainwashed? Ron, no-"

"Don't worry KP, I'll get you out of here!"

"Ron!"

But he was in the air. And Shego, unprepared, caught his foot in her chest and went flying into the machine. She fell to a knee and winced.

"Okay," she said, "so this is happening."

She leapt at him, fists blazing.

"Shego!"

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ _: So it seems you guys will miss this too much if I don't continue this story. :P I actually went and figured out what it was that wasn't ringing true for me in this story, then went and added those elements into the outline. So expect Limited Palette to continue. Also, as always, thank you to everyone who reviewed because it gives me a reminder that you're still reading and I should probably post. xD_


	10. Hear no Evil, See no Monkey

**Chapter 10 - Hear no Evil, See no Monkey**

* * *

"Ron!"

"Don't worry KP, I got this!"

And across the slick steel floor, between the half-finished machines of Doctor Drakken, he lunged at Shego. The two became a whirlwind of swept legs and arms, a flurry of missed strikes. Shego ducked, Ron flipped, Shego shot plasma and Ron pivoted on her arm. Both of their strikes took out pieces of the machinery around them, sending parts or molten pieces flying. Their fight carried them from one end of the room to the other, always with Shego moving backwards. At one point, Ron cornered Shego, but Shego simply leapt over him and their battle was rejoined. She was holding her own, but only just.

"Ron, stop!"

Then one of Ron's kicks caught Shego in the stomach. She flew into a wall, but landed in a crouch and bounded back. Another kick from Ron and she went flying behind a pile of half-built machines and spare parts.

Ron waited a moment, then turned, grabbed Kim's hand, and ran for the hanger exit.

Kim felt things happen in a fog. Her legs jerked like stilts underneath her, each step feeling like a sledgehammer that shook her legs to the bone.

"Ron..."

Behind them came a feral scream and the walls turned green. Ron swung Kim around until he stood between her and Shego, who charged, fists blazing, her face scowled and full of fury. And her leg's bandage loosening as she did.

"Shego, don't!"

Ron jerked back towards Kim for just a moment... which gave Shego the split second distraction she needed to land a punch. Ron went sliding along the floor.

There was finally a break in the fighting. Shego's shoulders rose and fell with her breathing, her feet planted in a wide stance next to Kim.

"Well?" Shego said, staring at Ron picking himself up. "Aren't you going to join in?"

"We can fix this."

"Right," Shego said. "I guess now that your boyfriend is here, this is the end of our little cooperation."

"What?"

Shego charged towards Ron without responding.

"Shego, your leg!"

Ron was back on his feet. A spinning kick, and Shego crashed into the opened crates Kim had gone through when they arrived. They toppled and their contents spilled out, burying Shego underneath.

"Ron, stop! She's hurt!"

Ron glanced back to where Shego had disappeared and then went back to Kim. "Kim, listen to me. I know you're in there. You gotta fight this."

"What? Oh- Ron! I'm not brainwashed!"

"Wade," Ron said, "do your thing. Figure out what's wrong with her."

"On it." From Ron's pocket, his old Kimmunicator grew a helicopter blade and whirled towards Kim.

"Wade," Kim said, swatting at it, "I'm not brainwashed."

"I'll be the judge of that," Wade said. The Kimmunicator emitted a blue light that swept it's way over her skull. "H-uh... weird. I don't see any _obvious_ signs of of brain alteration... but I won't know without a complete analysis."

"Two hours?" Ron said.

"Try a day," Wade said. "And Drakken could have developed a new form of mind-control that's not detectable. We'll need to get her in observation right away."

"ALRIGHT." Green plasma exploded outward from the other side of the room, sending debris and flickering wisps of energy tumbling outward. "Someone's dead!"

Kim groaned.

Ron held out a hand. "Kim, stay back."

Kim's thoughts swirled in a dizzying tornado. She had to save Ron. But she was working with Shego. She had to find out what Umbra was up to and prove her innocence. But Ron was her friend _and_ her boyfriend. Probably. If he even still wanted to be together after this was all over.

Ron and Shego's fight carried them around the room again, and Shego slowed more and more while Ron showed no signs of letting up. Then, a punch made her take to a knee. Another felled her completely. She laid, groaning, trying to pull herself up, her arms shaking.

"Wait." Kim ran forward, leaping over machinery despite her aching muscles from her hike up the mountain. She gently held Ron's fist when she reached him. "Wait. Ron..."

"KP...," Ron said, "I can't... I can't trust what you say right now. Just go with me. Alright? We can fix this."

Kim sniffled. "That's my line. Ron... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Tears filled her eyes. And suddenly it was all too much. She collapsed in Ron's shoulder and sobbed, tear streaming hot and wet down her face.

"Kim... it's alright." Ron stroked her hear and put an arm around her waist. "It'll be alright. We can make everything right again."

She cried for a minute longer and then just stopped, though her shoulders still shook. "I-I know. I know. Ron... I just... I can't involve you in this. I'm sorry. Okay?"

Ron looked confused for a moment and luckily didn't see Kim's fist slam into his chin, knocking him out cold. He crumpled.

"I'm sorry," Kim said. She turned. "Shego, get up! We have to go! He won't be down for more than a few seconds."

"That's not a truck, Dr. D," she mumbled. "That's a frigin' wreckin' ball."

"Shego," Kim said.

Shego blinked. "Kimmie?" She glanced at the floor where Ron lay. "I didn't do that." She looked lazily back up at Kim and some of the cloud lifted from her eyes. "... oh."

Kim sniffled and flushed. "Com'on. We need to get out of here before he wakes up."

Shego wobbled as Kim helped Shego to her feet. She draped an arm around Kim's shoulders and Kim hefted with all her aching muscles were worth.

Shego pointed behind them. "Uh, Kimmie?"

Kim heard it; Ron picking himself back up. She groaned and her stomach did a flip. She wasn't looking forward to fighting Ron.

"Sorry Kim," Ron said. "I can't just let you go. I need to help you. Please. Just let me help you."

Kim sighed and barely registered Shego's horrified look before Kim looked at Ron. Then she broke out in the worst cold sweat of her life.

Ron was glowing blue.

Oh.

... Oh no.

"Shego..." Kim said.

Ron took a step towards them.

"Shego!"

Shego pushed Kim to the floor and unleashed a torrent of green plasma. It melted the metal tiling and the surrounding machines and the heat seared the edges of Kim's hair.

Kim was horrified. " _Shego_!"

"He'll be fine!" Shego said, extinguishing her plasma and pulling Kim roughly to her feet. "He can take it!"

"How do you-" but almost as soon as she said it, there stood Ron, looking fine as ever, covered in a blue glow and looking... he looked...

... murderous.

"Shego," Kim said, "run. Run _now_!"

Shego swung her arm around Kim's waist and flung Kim around so Kim could ride on Shego's back, arms around her neck. A few running leaps, and Shego twisted, flinging a bolt of plasma behind them. It flew through the air and exploded against the main weather machine, sending sparks flying.

There was a whirl, and suddenly the room was a hurricane, winds traveling out from the machine, sending papers and small devices flying while speeding them along. Ron, on the other side, held up an arm to block the wind, being pushed from the other side of the machine.

"How'd you know it'd do that?!" Kim shouted over the gales.

"I thought it'd explode!" Shego turned her head and grinned. "This is better! Hang on!"

Shego brought her arms forward and blasted the door she had melted when they had arrived, making the hole a bit wider. They leapt through and made their way towards their hovercraft, Kim still clinging to Shego's back. Kim tried to let go, but Shego's clamped her hands over Kim's wrists.

"Aren't you the injured one?!" Kim said.

"Not the time!"

They reached the hovercraft in the next moment. Kim collapsed on the floor while Shego started pressing buttons. The hatch that hid the base started to crank open. It had seemed so fast before, but now it seemed to be the slowest thing in the world. And in the hall the had come from, a blue glow grew brighter.

"Shego, the hallway!"

"Got it!"

Shego turned and fired several bolts into the wall above the door. Chunks of rock groaned and fell with a thunderous crash that send shock-waves through the floor, sealing the door to the main chamber.

"That won't hold him for long!"

"I know!"

Sure enough, sounds of rock being shoved out of the way soon followed until Ron appeared in the middle of the rubble, still looking deadly serious and still cloaked in his ghostly blue glow. He ran for them.

"Shego, go! Go! Blast the roof, just go!"

Shego grimaced and lifted the hovercraft up. They wobbled for a moment, then Kim was thrown back to the floor and nearly overboard as they shot straight for the barely open hanger door.

"Shego, blast it! It's not wide enough!"

"I got it!" Her arms shot forwards and an explosion of green plasma surged in front of them. Blasted rock and metal swept by them as they dove straight through the thick billowing smoke, unable to see if Shego had been successful. Their craft scraped against rock and steel, lurching dangerously to the side. They were tossed forward as the craft caught again... then they were flying into the clear skies, a column of smoke growing behind them.

Shego collapsed against the controls, slumping to the floor and holding her head. The hovercraft was still climbing at an alarming rate.

Kim scrambled her way up the slanted floor and took the controls. "Shego, help me; I don't know what any of these controls are."

Shego groaned. "The black... stick thing... it's big. See it? Push it forward. Gently."

Kim did. Or so she thought. Suddenly, they were careening down towards the face of another nearby mountain.

"Back back back back back!"

"Got it!" Kim pulled it back, but sent them into a steep climb.

"Kimmie!"

"I got it this time!"

She pushed the lever forward and this time, the craft leveled out, still climbing, but at a much slower rate.

From the floor, Shego groaned. "You're gonna want to keep the craft low. Learn the controls so you don't smash us into a field, then fly as low as you can; we'll avoid most radar."

"'Most?'" Kim said.

Shego shrugged, then looked like she was going to be sick. "Can't win 'em all, Princess."

Still sitting on the floor of the craft, Shego explained what each lever and dial did. It was a bit unlike any other vehicle; Drakken said he could design a better control scheme "than any primitive engineer," Shego told her. That sounded like the Drakken Kim knew.

Eventually, Kim felt comfortable enough to fly the craft fairly low through the mountains. She flew south - not quite sure where she was going, but trying to stay as out of sight as she could in a lone hovercraft traveling through the Rockies.

At her feet, Shego rested her head against the control console. She was even paler than usual.

"You look bad," Kim said.

"Haven't ever used that much energy," Shego said. "Not at once. Took more out of me than I thought it would."

"It's not just that." Kim glanced down and pointed towards Shego's leg. "You were fighting on that this entire time. It's gotten worse. You probably pulled all my stitches."

Shego lifted an arm to wave Kim off, but her eyes rolled up and she slammed, head-first, into the floor.

"Shego!"

Kim nearly dove straight for her, then remembered the controls. Shego didn't mention where the throttle was and Kim wasn't about to try to figure it out now. She lifted the nose of the craft and set it to fly straight through a valley, high altitude or not.

Taking to a knee, Kim hesitated, then gingerly rolled Shego onto her back, checking her head. There didn't seem to be any bleeding, so Kim moved on to Shego's leg. Sure enough, the stitches were pulled and the wound was bleeding. Kim used what she had on hand and cut her jeans mid-thigh, using one strip to wrap the wound again.

There was little else she could do, but Kim patted her pocket, which, sure enough, still had the prescription bottle. She set it inside what seemed to serve as a glove department in the hovercraft, then used the second pant leg she cut to create a makeshift pillow that she laid under Shego's head.

Back at the controls, Kim lowered the craft again, swerving around mountainsides and using the sun to make sure she was still heading roughly south, least she start circling back around. Best to put distance between them and Ron and whoever might be helping him. Surely someone must have seen the smoke by now.

Evening turned to dusk and dusk to night. Still Kim flew on, following mountains when she could and staying as low as she could when she couldn't. It was several hours into the night when Shego finally stirred.

"Whazzat?"

"Shego?"

Shego was propped up on her elbow, other hand held to her forehead. "Where are we?"

"I uh... I don't... know, exactly? I think we're in Central America, though. I'm pretty sure."

"Central -" Shego grunted and pushed herself up, grasping the sides of the craft.

"Easy," Kim said, offering a hand that Shego just swatted away. "You've been out for hours."

"I can see that. Just how long?"

"Maybe... nine hours?"

"That explains why I'm about to hurl over the side of this thing."

"Ew, gross?"

Shego laughed, once, then turned an even paler shade than she already was and bent over the side of the hovercraft. Kim cringed.

A moment later, Shego knelt down and draped her head over the side. Kim flew on, apparently not getting directions from Shego any time soon. They must have been going almost a hundred miles an hour, and the wind whipped at Kim's hair with a fury. Her face felt cracked and dry, her eyes like lizard's skin.

They were low enough that the land beneath them was a blur of brown and shadow, their craft skimming scraggly trees and low outcroppings of sharp rock. Kim had been flying for over an hour without the cover of the mountains now. Now there were low, squat mountains hugging the harsh landscape like thin dollops of unbaked dough, but none were tall enough hide them. The cordillera didn't pick back up until the _Sierra Madre_ mountain ranges in Mexico.

Shouldn't they have been there by now? Maybe Kim was flying in the middle of the _Occidental_ and _Oriental_ ranges. She shook her head. No use worrying about it; she knew her geography, but navigating it was something she usually left to someone else.

"The hell?"

Kim nearly jumped overboard. The craft tilted a little, but Kim quickly corrected it.

Shego didn't seem to notice. "Why did I pack this?" She had apparently recovered enough to dig around in a box that Kim hadn't noticed at first.

"What?" Kim said, trying to sound calm.

Shego spared her a glance, rolled her eyes, and tossed Shego's original green cat suit, still torn and battle damaged, brain washing shampoo, and a can of Pop Pop Porter's every flavor freeze dried chicken nuggets.

"Ah ha! Found it!" She rose up, apparently too quickly. She held her head and teetered forward. Kim stepped forward to steady her and for once, Shego was too dizzy to notice. She did, eventually, and shooed Kim away, slapping a round compass on the sloped dash.

"I was wondering where the compass was on this," Kim said, picking it up. "Let me guess, this is part of Drakken's 'superior design.'"

"You got it, princess," Shego said, hands on her hips. "Where are we?"

"Uh, Mexico?"

"Nuh-uh," Shego said. "We're not nearly far enough south." She leaned forward to pick the compass off the dash and laid it in the flat of her palm. A moment to let the needle settle later, she peered off turning in place with a hand to her brow. When she finished, she pondered a moment, then pointed to the right of the nose of the craft. "Head that way. There's a mountain range not too far away, I think."

" _Sierra Madre Oriental_?"

Shego shrugged. "Uh, yeah, sure."

"Shego..."

"I don't know, alright?" Shego said, throwing a hand up. "I just know there's a mountain range that'll hide us. It's not like Drakken and I stopped to ask directions. ... believe me, I tried."

Kim snorted. Then she immediately chided herself for laughing; this wasn't the time.

Shego groaned - not at Kim, but her own body - and slid back down to the floor. Silence again reigned, but a few minutes later, out of the corner of her eye, Kim saw Shego open her mouth to speak, then shut it, only to do it again, then finally settle on facing the back of the craft, her head lolling on the dash with every bit of turbulence.

What was she going to say? She knew Kim needed to know what Umbra was up to. Maybe that was it. Kim had even considered asking Shego about it again, but each time, the questioned died on the tip of her tongue, certain that Shego would just shoot her down again.

The hovercraft flew on, and the night felt very quiet, despite the rush of air. That's all that Kim could hear, really, even if the craft somehow damped the sound; apparently Drakken's design was good for something.

Perhaps an hour of standing at the controls later, Shego suddenly spoke.

"You could have just left," she said. "Done your mission without me."

Sparing a glance from the darkened land in front of her, Kim looked down to where Shego sat. She had her eyes closed, her head still resting on the edge of the console.

"I don't see how," Kim said.

Shego swept a hand through the air. "Shot straight for the hovercraft. Let me fight the moron alone."

"And lose my best partner?" Kim said lightly.

Shego gave her a look between disgust and impatience. She crossed her arms, tapped a finger against her bicep, and looked up expectantly.

"What?" Kim said.

"Come on," was all Shego said.

Kim did a little hop on the balls of her feet. "Why is 'I'm just a good person' not an acceptable answer?"

"Because you look like you're about to jump over the side of this hovercraft." Shego grabbed the edge of the dash and started to hoist herself up, but winced and sat back down.

"Careful," Kim said.

"Stop avoiding the question."

Kim fumed. "I'm not - alright look... the last time Ron glowed like that... he... killed two people."

"Aliens."

"People!" Kim snapped though Shego just stared cooly up at her. "They still thought. They still... felt. They were people. And they were killed. I have _never_ killed anyone, Shego, and I don't... intend to start. But Ron has. That's never going to change."

Shego sat, starting, and slowly leaned back to her original position and rested her head back against the dash. "What'd he say about this?"

"We haven't... we haven't talked about it. It's just... he hasn't mentioned it and..."

"... and you don't want to."

Kim glanced at her, then forced her eyes back against the dark landscape. "... yeah."

The air whipped Kim's hair. Shego leaned forward, as if to sleep, hiding her face behind a curtain of black.

Has _she_? Has Shego killed anyone? It wouldn't be hard to imagine... would it?

It's probably better not to know.

"Shego," Kim said, "I need to know what Umbra's up to. If we're going to take her down, I need to know everything you do."

Shego's head didn't move. The wind just caught the top of her head, making a stray hair fly backward. Her chest raised and lowered, and Kim thought that perhaps she had actually fallen asleep.

Then Shego looked up, a cat's grin plastered on her face. She huffed. "Come on, this is a gimmie." She waited, looking on. "Nothing? Not even an inkling?" She held up pinched fingers. Still not receiving a reply, she held up her hands. "Fine, fine. You want to know? She's trying to take over the world, d'oy."

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ _: This story seems to have an obsession with these two throwing up. :\_

 _YES I AM STILL WRITING THIS._

 _Also, I've apparently been nominated for the Kim Possible Fandom's Fannie Awards for Best Author?_

 _Well, okidoki then. If you want to participate in the Awards, head on over to the Kim Possible Discussion forums here on FFNet and browse the "Fannie" stickies. There's currently two posts, one is a reading list of fics and authors up for awards, and another is an elimination voting system. Feel free to go and vote for your favorite authors and fics!_

 _See you soon and thanks (as always) for all the reviews on the last chapter, my pretties. 3_


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